Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins is set to be a free agent this offseason, but quarterback Joe Burrow is expecting him to remain in a Bengals uniform for 2024.
While speaking to reporters on Monday, Burrow made his feelings toward Higgins’ impending free-agent status abundantly clear.
“Well obviously, we’d love to have Tee back,” Burrow said, via Cincinnati’s official YouTube account. “He’s a big part of what we’ve done here. And it’s no secret, our relationship. So, I expect Tee to be back. I think that’s the sentiment in the locker room — we all want Tee back. We know what kind of player he is, we know what kind of person he is. He’s what being a Bengal is all about. So, like you said, we’ll see. But I think we should have a good opportunity.”
The 2023 campaign was a disappointing one for Higgins, who missed five games due to injuries and logged just 42 catches for 656 yards and five touchdowns, by far the worst production of his four-year NFL career.
Higgins played his collegiate football at Clemson and was selected by the Bengals in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
He enjoyed an impressive rookie year, catching 67 passes for 908 yards and six scores. He then posted back-to-back 1,000-yard campaigns in 2021 and 2022 as Cincinnati’s No. 2 receiver behind Ja’Marr Chase.
Higgins will be one of the top available wide outs on the open market this offseason, but the good news is Cincy is slated to have plenty of cap room if it wants to retain him. Burrow likely has a significant say in the personnel decisions the Bengals make on offense, so perhaps the team will push extra hard to re-sign Tee Higgins thanks to Burrow’s endorsement.
Joe Burrow’s season was riddled by injuries. He played through a calf issue early on in the year and then was knocked out for the remainder of the campaign due to a wrist injury he suffered in November. He played in just 10 games.
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