The future for Tee Higgins with the Cincinnati Bengals remains gloomy.
Currently, the franchise-tagged star is currently trying to get back on the field after missing a second set of games this season due to another soft tissue injury.
Looking ahead to next offseason, ESPN's Higgins was recently named the league's No. 1 emerging free agent and expressed doubts about getting a long-term deal:
What we hear: There is little to no chance Higgins will be in Cincinnati after 2024. The people I've spoken to are pretty confident about it, unless there's a big surprise. A second franchise tag would cost the Bengals around $26.2 million on a one-year lease.
What might be interesting here is that no insider has yet said that Higgins' recent spate of injuries puts his free agency future in question. He missed games earlier this year with another hamstring injury and has now missed three straight games after injuring his quad running routes in practice.
One might assume that the frequent and persistent unavailability could make teams hesitant to give Higgins a market-changing contract in free agency.
But for now, it looks like things are staying on the expected path – the Bengals probably won't be able to afford a rematch against Higgins while they still have to pay Ja'Marr Chase and fill so many other holes on the roster.
