Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins wants to remain with the team and loves the fact a guy like Joe Burrow is in his corner as contract extension speculation continues.
Given the circumstances and everything outsiders have heard about the situation so far, it seems safe to presume the Bengals will lock down Higgins, potentially this summer before he plays on the final season of his rookie deal.
Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus just shared his own projections for what a Higgins extension could look like, outlining a few of the factors that make it so tricky:
The situation is complicated for a myriad of reasons, namely that Higgins is not the best wide receiver on his own team, but also how to balance his production between Ja’Marr Chase presence and the benefit of playing with Joe Burrow. Higgins would undoubtedly be the No. 1 wide receiver on many NFL rosters and would probably have more production from a volume standpoint just by sheer target share but has been remarkably efficient as a No. 2 option in Cincinnati.
Spielberger’s projection comes in at $97 million over four years with $32.25 million guaranteed. That $24.25 average annual value would put him in the top 10 of that category near the likes of D.K. Metcalf.
That’s a totally-fair landing range for Higgins given that he’s effectively a No. 1 wideout in his own right — he showed as much while Chase was out with an injury last season.
As with the Burrow extension, more important than the inevitable giant numbers is the actual structure of the payouts and how it impacts cap space. If done right, the Bengals can get Higgins’ deal out of the way this summer before working on Chase’s the next.
Higgins recently explained why he’s at practice working out amid the contract buzz, too.
