One of the interesting things we and others have suggested about the mini-standoff between the Cincinnati Bengals and Tee Higgins is that signing him to an extension could help the team’s cap situation.
With some creative structuring, reaching a long-term extension with Higgins could actually lower his 2024 cap hit, giving the team more cash to spend elsewhere.
The Chicago Bears just put this into action with cornerback Jaylon Johnson, providing a great example.
On the tag, Johnson was set to account for a $19.8 million cap hit. But he and the Bears just agreed on a four-year deal that only averages $19 million per season and has a $13.425 million cap hit in 2024.
This is possible because he’ll earn $28 million overall in 2024, including signing bonuses, then another $16 million in 2025, fully guaranteed.
Here’s the kicker — the total cash over the first two years of that extension is slightly more than the number had the Bears used the franchise tag on him two offseasons in a row.
So, back to Higgins. The idea of a second franchise tag in 2025 has certainly come up in conversations with the wideout’s reps. Technically, with the increasing cap, the Bengals could afford the costlier second tag. So it might behoove Higgins and Co. to agree on something similar that gives everyone what they want — at least two years of big money and avoiding a double-tag. Higgins and other star wideouts, Ja’Marr Chase included, don’t like much longer than three-year deals right now anyway because of the rising cap, so a three-year pact would make sense.
As always with the Bengals, guaranteeing money after the first year of the contract is a big hurdle here. But doing so with Higgins would end the standoff and extend a branch of sorts that might make further extensions with him possible.
And while some might fret about having enough money to pay Chase and the rest of the roster, too, there are creative ways around this issue, such as inevitable-feeling restructures to Joe Burrow’s contract, etc. Front-loading a Higgins deal now can work.
Keeping Burrow-Higgins-Chase was always going to be a task that required the Bengals front office to wiggle free of its conservative shell a bit with contracts. The Bears just put into action one of the suggested plans, a possible blueprint to ending the drama with Higgins before the July 15 deadline to reach an extension.
