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Duke Tobin, Bengals not keen on trading Tee Higgins

Jack Sabin / NFL / March 1, 2023

Duke Tobin, Bengals not keen on trading Tee Higgins

Earlier this month, I wrote an article on the Bears potentially trading for Tee Higgins, and it makes a lot of sense. He is due for a big contract extension that the Bengals likely can’t afford, plus the Bears have more than enough capital to go get the deal done.

Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin has quickly put an end to these rumors with comments he made earlier today.

“I’m not in the business of making other teams better. I’m in the business of making the Cincinnati Bengals better,” Tobin said. “And so, trading Tee Higgins is not on my mind.”
Quote via NBC Sports

So, for now at least, it seems like the Bengals are going to hold onto Higgins. Still, seeing as they are due to pay Ja’Marr Chase and Joe Burrow, I don’t really know how that will be possible. I understand not wanting to make other teams better, but losing Higgins for nothing hardly seems like a better option.

The Bengals could surely use his production. Since being drafted in 2020, he has eclipsed 1,000 yards in two of three possible seasons and has helped make up one of the best-receiving corps in the NFL. Maybe he takes a little hometown discount in order to stay.

Because, aside from that, I just really don’t see how the Bengals afford to bring him back. Though Tobin claims that they won’t trade Higgins it doesn’t mean it still won’t happen. We’ve seen in the past general managers claiming a certain player won’t be traded, only for them to be traded weeks later — OBJ sign and trade with the Giants anybody?

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The point is we’ve all seen smoke screens before, and it wouldn’t surprise me in the latest if this was another one.

I don’t doubt Tobin and the Bengals want to bring Higgins back. I think the Bears, or another team, can put together a deal to at least make them think about it, especially if the Bengals come to the realization that they won’t have enough money to re-sign him.

Ultimately, having Higgins simply walk in free agency would be the worst-case scenario. Better to get some picks and try to replace him than just let him walk.

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