NFL Free Agency: Cincinnati Bengals to use franchise tag on Tee Higgins, per report

A decision has been made regarding star wide receiver Tee Higgins‘ future in the NFL. The Cincinnati Bengals informed him they are using the franchise tag on him, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported.

Higgins is the first player to receive the franchise tag since the window opened, and it’s expected to be around $21.8 million of fully guaranteed money, Rapoport said.

The move comes after four very successful years for Higgins with the Bengals. He was originally drafted back in 2020 as the team’s second round pick after they selected Joe Burrow No. 1 overall. Of course, before heading to the NFL, Higgins also enjoyed immense success at Clemson, and he and Burrow’s paths crossed in the national title game for the 2019-20 season, the first of many games where the two would share a football field.

With Burrow at quarterback for most of the first four seasons of his career, Tee Higgins put up 908 yards as a rookie, then 1,400 yards on the nose between the regular season and Super Bowl run in 2021-22, posted over 1,200 combined in 2022-23 and just 656 in an injury-limited season this past fall. He also has 27 total career touchdowns with two of those coming in the 2022 Super Bowl.

More on the 2024 NFL offseason, free agency

The NFL 2024 calendar year begins at 4 p.m. ET on March 13. At that time, contracts running through 2023 officially run out, making those players free agents. Prior to the beginning of free agency, teams will have a chance to designate one franchise or transition tag player, starting on Feb. 20 at 4 p.m. ET and ending on March 5. Beginning March 11 through March 13 teams can enter into a legal negotiation with players who are set to become unrestricted free agents.

In addition to NFL free agency, the new year also marks the beginning of all trades being made official by the league office. April 19 marks the deadline to sign restricted free agents to offer sheets. On April 24, the deadline for teams to match restricted free agent offers sheets hits. Following the restricted free agent deadline follows the 2024 NFL Draft, which runs from April 25-27.

More on restricted, exclusive rights free agents

Players with only three years of accredited NFL experience become restricted free agents. Their original team will have the option to apply first-round, second-round, original-round, and right-of-fight-of-first-refusal tenders on players at escalating price tags. The higher the round, the more expensive the tender amount; however, if a separate team does offer a contract and the original team does not match that round pick will be conveyed from the new team to the original team. Right of first refusal only gives a team the option to match or not. If they don’t match, they get nothing in return. An original-round tender would send a draft pick from whatever round the player was drafted back to the original team if they chose not to match. The original team will have five days to match once a player signs an offer sheet from a new team.