Would Bengals trade Tee Higgins? Contract demands reportedly “outrageous”

[TheBeaneBandit]

1 hour ago, LabattBlue said:

Nor sure what Higgins has done with the Bengals that makes him a 20+ mil a year player.  Take a look at the WR’s who make that kind of money, add Higgins to the group, and then let me know who doesn’t belong. 
 

[edited] I stand corrected. I just looked at spotrac, and can’t believe the WR’s with a cap hit north of 20 mil for the 2023 season.  WOW. 

I know I wouldn't have believed it either until I seen it with my own eyes myself. Barely above average receivers getting 20 plus million a year it's insane

[SWATeam]

If I'm Cincy I don't trade him.  Let him play out the rookie deal a take another crack at the title next year.  Then if he leaves in FA you get that nice comp pick anyways.

[Orlando Tim]

1 hour ago, LabattBlue said:

Nor sure what Higgins has done with the Bengals that makes him a 20+ mil a year player.  Take a look at the WR’s who make that kind of money, add Higgins to the group, and then let me know who doesn’t belong. 
 

[edited] I stand corrected. I just looked at spotrac, and can’t believe the WR’s with a cap hit north of 20 mil for the 2023 season.  WOW. 

The list is insane of WR making over $15 million a year and soon every #1 will make at least $22. I like Higgins but nearly enough to commit that much to him. 

[Mr. WEO]

53 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

The way this draft lines up they could get a better LT prospect around 15 than the quality of WR prospect, IMO.    Then they would have their second first rounder to go after a WR where the available option might be as good as anyone in the top 15.     It's a good time for Cinci to make that move and I agree with @GunnerBill about the order.   

 

The addition of a rookie LT might make the Offense incrementally better.  Losing Higgins make them intuitively worse.

[Mark Vader]

1 hour ago, LabattBlue said:

Nor sure what Higgins has done with the Bengals that makes him a 20+ mil a year player.  Take a look at the WR’s who make that kind of money, add Higgins to the group, and then let me know who doesn’t belong. 
 

[edited] I stand corrected. I just looked at spotrac, and can’t believe the WR’s with a cap hit north of 20 mil for the 2023 season.  WOW. 

It's unbelievable.

 

How much did Zay Jones get from the Jaguars?

[Mango]

4 hours ago, Florida Bills Fanatic said:

Actually, Brady isn't off the books in TB.  I just saw that they will be carrying $23M in dead money with some procedural moves possible to reduce it to $11M this year.  They kicked the can down the road and it is now time to pay up.

That’s absolutely insane. I should have looked further.

 

To my point, the one team that did do it was totally flawed this year. It would be wildly irresponsible to pay a QB top 5 money and have 2 top paid receivers. You can’t build an OL, run game, or defense with that kind of spending. 

[ControllerOfPlanetX]

15 hours ago, Augie said:

 

We don’t need to sign him, we just need some other team to do it. Wait until the Bengals have to pay Burrows. That will level the playing field a bit. 

And so it begins for the Bengals.

Mike Brown will not want to put the amount of money needed in escrow for Burrows contract.

…plus he will start with in insultingly lowball offer….Burrow will probably end up on the franchise tag..

 

 

Edited February 4, 2023 by ControllerOfPlanetX

[BADOLBILZ]

49 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

The addition of a rookie LT might make the Offense incrementally better.  Losing Higgins make them intuitively worse.

 

 

Yeah, that sounds about right.   But they aren't going to give Higgins a $100M contract.........they aren't likely to franchise him next year with a new Burrow deal done and Chase eligible for extension either.........so trading 1 year of Higgins for 5 years of a promising OT is a business decision with some potential upside.

[Cheektowaga Chad]

Any reports on what is "outrageous" or is it Cincy ownership living up to their past of being cheap 

[machine gun kelly]

16 hours ago, Big Blitz said:

Yep.  He’s going to be the highest paid WR

 

 

 

No way they trade him tho.  

With what $.  They have enough

problems extending the ones we

want.  Beane will be aggressive to

converting salaries to signing bonuses, but that is just to get to keep who they want.

[78thealltimegreat]

A desperate receiver team will give them a one…I’d watch Chicago hundred mill in cap space and in desperate need of a 1 

[SCBills]

Bengals owner better figure out how to gain access to cash… and fast.  
 

Burrow is one thing.  They know what they need to do, otherwise lose the fanbase.  
 

Chase likely in the same boat given the draft pick to take him and Burrow connection. 
 

Higgins and the other pieces coming due are quite another. 

[Allen2Moulds]

5 hours ago, TheBeaneBandit said:

They're going to have to pay Higgins 20 million a year plus, Jamar Chase 20 million plus, and Burrow probably 50 million a year. Goodbye cap space Bengals👋😸. Actually by the time Chase is due, it'll probably be about 30 million a year.

Let me correct that for you...Burrow 50+ and chase 30+

[Big Blitz]

26 minutes ago, machine gun kelly said:

With what $.  They have enough

problems extending the ones we

want.  Beane will be aggressive to

converting salaries to signing bonuses, but that is just to get to keep who they want.

 

Just to be clear - I never said WE should trade for him.  Not possible and would never happen.  
 

And I don’t think the Bengals will either.  
 

If you have 2 elite number ones you keep them.  
 

Will absolutely impact the roster but so what.
 

You have to out score people in this league.   

[machine gun kelly]

8 minutes ago, Big Blitz said:

 

Just to be clear - I never said WE should trade for him.  Not possible and would never happen.  
 

And I don’t think the Bengals will either.  
 

If you have 2 elite number ones you keep them.  
 

Will absolutely impact the roster but so what.
 

You have to out score people in this league.   

Blitz- That’s obvious and ofs

also not feesable.  Cinch will find the &”$.  They aren’t letting amy

of those three go, not

theor TE.

[SCBills]

24 minutes ago, Allen2Moulds said:

Let me correct that for you...Burrow 50+ and chase 30+

Yup 

 

Burrow is going to be a 50M QB and Chase 30M

 

Seems like Higgins is likely asking for 30M too, based off the reports .. can’t imagine they’d think mid-20’s is excessive for him 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

1 hour ago, SCBills said:

Bengals owner better figure out how to gain access to cash...

Well, Mixon can be the triggerman.  Who they'll get to drive the getaway car is anyone's guess.

 

[LOVEMESOMEBILLS]

1 hour ago, SCBills said:

Bengals owner better figure out how to gain access to cash… and fast.  
 

Burrow is one thing.  They know what they need to do, otherwise lose the fanbase.  
 

Chase likely in the same boat given the draft pick to take him and Burrow connection. 
 

Higgins and the other pieces coming due are quite another. 

 

 Burrow and Chase will probably get what somewhere around $250 million guaranteed between them? Maybe more. Those 2 alone will take 25% of Mike Brown's net worth outside of the value of the team, that will need to go into escrow. 

 

 

 

 

[Victory Formation]

Bills get: Tee Higgins + a 4th

 

Cinci gets: 1st

[Inigo Montoya]

Wide receivers are now like CBs in that a team can only afford to have one great one on a second contract on the roster because the position cost it too high.  Teams will pay their #1 WR big bucks and then churn through rookie WR and hope one of them hits on a cheap contract for four or five years to pair with their #1.  No team can afford to pay two #1 WRs market value on a second contract if they have a franchise QB on the books.

[KDIGGZ]

They would be crazy not to trade him if they could get a 1st. You can easily replace a #2 WR with a 1st round pick and have a cheap replacement.

[bigK14094]

17 hours ago, BarleyNY said:

They need to pay Burrow and Chase. Higgins will get WR1 money somewhere. The smart move by the Bengals is probably to trade him for a first plus more picks and replace him in the draft. A team could stay ahead of the game like that. He was a second round pick. 

This is an old Belicheck trick.  Trade good players before you have to pay them on the second contract.  (chandler Jones comes to mind)

4 hours ago, Mark Vader said:

It's unbelievable.

 

How much did Zay Jones get from the Jaguars?

Doesn't matter.  As we know, Zay is a time  bomb waiting to go off.  Not somebody you want on your team.

[Augie]

4 hours ago, ControllerOfPlanetX said:

And so it begins for the Bengals.

Mike Brown will not want to put the amount of money needed in escrow for Burrows contract.

…plus he will start with in insultingly lowball offer….Burrow will probably end up on the franchise tag..

 

 

 

Bad teams start from the top. Brown has his work cut out for him, bit I’m pretty confident he can screw this up. You need deep pockets, and enough sense to stay out of the way. 

[Victory Formation]

2 hours ago, KDIGGZ said:

They would be crazy not to trade him if they could get a 1st. You can easily replace a #2 WR with a 1st round pick and have a cheap replacement.

There is some risk involved with that though. It paid off in a huge way for the Vikings but if you have a bad GM it’s kind of dicey.

[Billl]

3 hours ago, Victory Formation said:

Bills get: Tee Higgins + a 4th

 

Cinci gets: 1st

He’ll easily fit under the cap as long as he’s willing to pay $30,000,000 to play for the Bills.

[BuffaloBillsGospel2014]

21 hours ago, Dick_Cheney said:

I saw this earlier and avoided making a thread myself.

 

He's dope. There's no way we sign him for what he wants.

 

But if there's any way we could and if the opportunity was there. We should.

 

He'll sign with some trash asss team like the Broncos or Raiders or Jets. We'll keep dreaming for a Gabe Davis replacement.

Teams would kill for our group. Davis in a down year still had over 800 yards and 7 TD. People act like our group is a bunch of scrubs, no team paying an elite QB (not on a rookie contract) has 2 Stefon Diggs on their team. 

[julian]

11 hours ago, AlCowlingsTaxiService said:

Is it just me, or is anyone else frustrated that the Bengals got to a super bowl and an afc championship under Burrows rookie deal, and the Bills fell far short of those achievements under Josh’s rookie contract?

They have the same amount of Super Bowl wins… that’s the only achievement that matters

[JaCrispy]

20 hours ago, BarleyNY said:

They need to pay Burrow and Chase. Higgins will get WR1 money somewhere. The smart move by the Bengals is probably to trade him for a first plus more picks and replace him in the draft. A team could stay ahead of the game like that. He was a second round pick. 

Draft strategy I only dream the Bills were smart enough to pull off…we shall see with Oliver this offseason…

 

But I doubt McBean are open to admitting yet another draft failure…

37 minutes ago, BuffaloBillsGospel2014 said:

Teams would kill for our group. Davis in a down year still had over 800 yards and 7 TD. People act like our group is a bunch of scrubs, no team paying an elite QB (not on a rookie contract) has 2 Stefon Diggs on their team. 

Other than Diggs our WRs ARE scrubs…😉

[DCofNC]

10 hours ago, Saint Doug said:

We’ve had some really good WRs over the years, despite not having a QB to throw them the ball. Imagine having Allen throwing to Moulds, Evans, or Price? Would be nice. 

Would have been nice.

10 hours ago, Chicken Boo said:

 

How do you figure?  He played his best ball when Jamar was out and he was getting all the targets.  Can't say the same for Peerless.

He’s always got somebody taking attention for him and he’s mainly a deep ball guy, so just wait for him to be THE man and I don’t see him being that special.  A lot of guys look good with another dominant guy drawing coverage, can even have a small stretch where they appear good on their own, but once teams know who to take out of the game and how, it’s all over.

[DCofNC]

11 minutes ago, JaCrispy said:

Draft strategy I only dream the Bills were smart enough to pull off…we shall see with Oliver this offseason…

 

But I doubt McBean are open to admitting yet another draft failure…

Other than Diggs our WRs ARE scrubs…😉

The Bills already blew it with Oliver.  There was ZERO upside to using the 5th year option on him or Edmunds. They now have a guy they can’t trade because of his underwhelming play and high dollar contract.  He’s just a cap space eater, not particularly useful.  Either one of them could have been franchised if they broke out or been signed to a long term contract earlier for less if they actually stepped up.   Now, you will watch Edmunds walk, who I didn’t want back, but could have been signed for 5 years around 13M each, now is going to get 18.  Oliver would also find himself at a bargain rate situation if he was hitting FA this year, now you get to over pay him for this year and IF he breaks out, you get to pay him an elevated contract for longer.  It’s a gross misuse of the 5th year option.   

[chongli]

Draft mock:

 

https://thedraftnetwork.com/2023-nfl-mock-draft-trades/amp/

 

Cincinnati trades Tee Higgins, 2023 1st (no. 28 overall), 2023 2nd (no 59 overall), and 2024 3rd for Chicago's 2023 2nd (no. 2 overall), and drafts Will Anderon, Jr., Edge from Alabama:

 

"With potentially monstrous new contracts on the horizon for Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase, something has to give. In this case, it means Tee Higgins can’t get the deal he deserves in Cincinnati and asks for a trade. The wide receiver and draft-pick-needy Bears are willing to move back, pick up picks, and add a superstar pass-catcher for Justin Fields. The Bengals give up their second-round pick and a 2024 third-rounder that could get replaced with a Jessie Bates III comp pick.

 

As for who the Bengals take here, why not select arguably the best overall player in the class to help the defense excel? While this doesn’t fill a major need yet, there’s no such thing as having too many pass rushers. The hypothetical of Anderson Jr., Sam Hubbard, and Trey Hendrickson all wreaking havoc together only aids Cincinnati’s Super Bowl aspirations. The Bengals get a rare opportunity to add an elite draft talent despite being a Super Bowl contender."

 

Edited February 5, 2023 by chongli

[Mark Vader]

6 hours ago, bigK14094 said:

This is an old Belicheck trick.  Trade good players before you have to pay them on the second contract.  (chandler Jones comes to mind)

Doesn't matter.  As we know, Zay is a time  bomb waiting to go off.  Not somebody you want on your team.

It does matter.

 

It shows how crazy contracts for wide receivers has gotten.

[GreggTX]

Why do we want someone with outrageous contract demands in the first place? That goes double for us when we're $17 million over the cap. No thanks.

 

[BuffaloBillsGospel2014]

6 hours ago, JaCrispy said:

Draft strategy I only dream the Bills were smart enough to pull off…we shall see with Oliver this offseason…

 

But I doubt McBean are open to admitting yet another draft failure…

Other than Diggs our WRs ARE scrubs…😉

Davis is not a scrub he was middle of the pack and Dawson Knox is not a scrub. Look around the league and you’ll be surprised.

[FireChans]

On 2/4/2023 at 7:27 AM, AlCowlingsTaxiService said:

Is it just me, or is anyone else frustrated that the Bengals got to a super bowl and an afc championship under Burrows rookie deal, and the Bills fell far short of those achievements under Josh’s rookie contract?

We got to the AFC championship on Josh's rookie deal.

[FireChans]

21 hours ago, bigK14094 said:

This is an old Belicheck trick.  Trade good players before you have to pay them on the second contract.  (chandler Jones comes to mind)

Doesn't matter.  As we know, Zay is a time  bomb waiting to go off.  Not somebody you want on your team.

Perhaps the worst example to use, because Chandler Jones was a superstar in his prime.  After BB, he made two All-Pro teams, was 2nd and 3rd in DPOY voting as well.

 

In 2016, they traded him for Jonathan Cooper (bust) and a second rounder, which they traded down to draft Thuney (good player who left in FA) and Malcolm Mitchell (bust).  They won the Superbowl anyway, because of course they did, but it wasn't because of that trade.

 

The next year, they turned around and gave that money to Gilmore, who won DPOY, but they SUCKED against the pass as a group, in large part due to the absence of a premiere pass rusher (they had 42 sacks on the year, Chandler Jones with AZ had 17.5 by himself) which culminated in Nick Foles throwing the ball all over the yard on them in the SB, despite a heroic performance by Brady.

 

So yeah.  Let's not copy the BB model because when you have the greatest QB and the greatest coach ever, you can basically do whatever and it will still work half the time.

[mikemac2001]

18 hours ago, chongli said:

Draft mock:

 

https://thedraftnetwork.com/2023-nfl-mock-draft-trades/amp/

 

Cincinnati trades Tee Higgins, 2023 1st (no. 28 overall), 2023 2nd (no 59 overall), and 2024 3rd for Chicago's 2023 2nd (no. 2 overall), and drafts Will Anderon, Jr., Edge from Alabama:

 

"With potentially monstrous new contracts on the horizon for Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase, something has to give. In this case, it means Tee Higgins can’t get the deal he deserves in Cincinnati and asks for a trade. The wide receiver and draft-pick-needy Bears are willing to move back, pick up picks, and add a superstar pass-catcher for Justin Fields. The Bengals give up their second-round pick and a 2024 third-rounder that could get replaced with a Jessie Bates III comp pick.

 

As for who the Bengals take here, why not select arguably the best overall player in the class to help the defense excel? While this doesn’t fill a major need yet, there’s no such thing as having too many pass rushers. The hypothetical of Anderson Jr., Sam Hubbard, and Trey Hendrickson all wreaking havoc together only aids Cincinnati’s Super Bowl aspirations. The Bengals get a rare opportunity to add an elite draft talent despite being a Super Bowl contender."

 

Doesn’t this guy know CHI has the first overall pick and they put 2nd makes it confusing like it’s the 2nd round pick 

[The Jokeman]

On 2/4/2023 at 9:42 AM, aristocrat said:

The bears needs a big wr so they’ll pay up 

The Bears added Chase Carpool for a 2nd Rounder this year unless move the pick got from Ravens in Smith trade. That don't have the draft capital for Higgins unless get some by trading out of #1 overall or move Fields.