Tee Higgins contract: Why Bengals would prefer to avoid using ...

One of the best available free agents may not actually hit the market this offseason. 

The Cincinnati Bengals are focused on reaching a long-term deal with wide receiver Tee Higgins, and hoping not to use a franchise tag on him again, according to NFL Media. If the team cannot reach a deal with its veteran before the March 4 deadline (4 p.m. ET), it will likely use the tag on Higgins for the second straight year, Tom Pelissero reports.

Higgins played last season on the $21.8 million wide receiver tag, and would be set to earn around $26.2 million this time around if he signs the tag. That is higher than the projected $25.6 million a typical wide receiver would fetch this offseason with the franchise tag. Because Higgins was previously tagged, he's entitled to 120% of last season's salary, which is where the $26.2 million figure comes into play. 

Similar to last year, that $26.2 million is fully guaranteed and the entirety would count toward Cincinnati's salary cap for 2025. With that in mind, a long-term extension would make sense not only to keep Higgins in-house, but decrease that cap charge to manage other pieces on the roster. 

He has been seeking a long-term deal, and Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has been staunchly advocating for the Bengals to give it to him. The wide receiver market was reset last offseason by Justin Jefferson and CeeDee Lamb, who received $35 million and $34 million per year on their new deals, respectively. 

Higgins' teammate, Ja'Marr Chase, is expected to command a deal that falls in the same range or even surpasses both of those contracts, and there has thus been speculation that the Bengals will not be able to afford handing Higgins a long-term pact. 

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Higgins may not garner a deal in the same neighborhood as those three players, who are widely considered to be among the top five receivers in the NFL, yet because of his current situation he can likely get pretty close. 

If he's franchise-tagged, the floor for any long-term deal Higgins signs would start with that $26.2 million number, and it would likely reach much higher. Whether that deal comes from the Bengals or some other team, he would become a very well-compensated man.