Tag: Bengals rumors

Tee Higgins’ Bengals contract saga gets more interesting with insider rumor

This new detail from an insider makes the Bengals-Tee Higgins situation more interesting.

The saga between the Cincinnati Bengals and Tee Higgins is quickly adding new layers.

After Week 14, Joe Burrow stunned many by proclaiming that he’s confident Higgins will be back with the team next year. It was safe to view that as him applying very public pressure on the front office (or he knows something everyone else doesn’t).

A few days later, ESPN’s Dan Graziano tacked on a new detail about something very notable — Higgins might be changing agents:

There are rumblings that Higgins is pondering an agent change (he’s no longer listed with his previous agent on the official NFLPA site, but he’s also not yet listed with a new one), which sometimes indicates a change in the player’s negotiating stance. And Burrow’s confidence shouldn’t be ignored completely, as he’s not the type to just say things like that off the cuff. I don’t know how this shakes out. I still think it makes more sense for the Bengals to pay Chase, even if that means letting Higgins walk. But the longer it goes without a new deal for Chase, the more expensive the price tag gets.

What does a possible agent change mean for Higgins? Anything?

As Graziano notes, sometimes these things happen due to a change in a “negotiating stance.” With Higgins coming off a franchise tag, there’s potentially a chance he wants to try a new track after talks last offseason didn’t work out.

It’s all speculation, of course. Since Higgins is on the franchise tag, the Bengals aren’t permitted to sign him to an extension until after the season ends.

But Burrow’s comments and rumors of a possible agent change? The old adage about smoke and fire comes to mind. The Higgins saga sure feels like it’s taking a turn in an unexpected direction.

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New report offers more proof Bengals should fire Zac Taylor, start over

The Bengals should have the pick of any head coach they want, should they move on from Zac Taylor.

Is Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor on the hot seat?

One would think so after the team has flopped, wasting an MVP-caliber year from Joe Burrow, who has put the team on notice multiple times about what he expects for the rest of the season.

But these are the Bengals, so it’s easy to see staff changes under Taylor and nothing else.

And yet, that won’t stop potential head coaches from asking around about whether the Bengals job might become available, as reported recently by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler:

This is the time of year when people are trying to figure out which rumors are true and which surprise job will open. For example, I’ve had multiple coaches in the league text me this week about the Bengals job, wondering if Zac Taylor is on the hot seat. Not sure I see that, given some of the goodwill Taylor has built up there and owner Mike Brown’s propensity for cost control (Taylor has two more years left on his deal). But the next month will be about deciphering what’s real and what’s not. And perhaps Taylor will make staff changes there.

And that right there is the problem for the Bengals — the job is a super, super attractive one. Burrow. Ja’Marr Chase. An offense that should be good all the time and a defense that the coach could get a blank check to rebuild.

Normally, the conservative Bengals might stick it out with Taylor no matter how badly they finish this year. But the level of replacement candidates will never be higher, both for first-time coaches and veterans, perhaps all the way up to Bill Belichick.

That’s why, if the Bengals even so much as think about firing Taylor as a possibility and starting over around Burrow, they probably just should.

Again, these are the Bengals, so swapping out the head coach doesn’t guarantee much if someone like Duke Tobin doesn’t receive major changes after his own struggles as a roster-builder and/or the front office doesn’t modernize the way it does contracts and overall team management.

But the report just goes to show how attractive the job would be, especially compared to all of the other potential openings.

Who might some of these coaches asking about jobs be? We ranked the top candidates to replace Zac Taylor after the team’s latest loss.

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Bengals, Tee Higgins contract details standoff emerge in new report

Rumored details about the standoff between the Bengals and Tee Higgins emerge.

The ongoing standoff between the Cincinnati Bengals and wideout Tee Higgins that led to a trade request received a new update after the 2024 NFL draft.

According to Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer, Cincinnati’s initial offer to Higgins on an extension “never approached” the $20 million average per year (APY) mark.

That, it seems, prevented the two sides from engaging in further communications, which means the subject of guaranteed money, etc., didn’t happen.

The report goes on to stress that Higgins doesn’t strive to be the highest-paid receiver in football, only that he’d like something in the range of what Michael Pittman got from the Indianapolis Colts — which sets the baseline at $70 million over three years and a $23 million APY.

Where things get interesting is that Higgins’ franchise tag this year pays out $21.8 million anyway. Applying a double-tag next offseason would cost roughly $26.1 million — putting the two-year average at nearly $24 million APY, anyway.

In theory, that means the team shouldn’t have any problem meeting that $23 million APY over perhaps three seasons.

Timing might be the most critical element here. That under $20 million APY offer that stopped all negotiations was followed up this offseason by rumblings that the two sides hadn’t talked for a year. The Bengals don’t generally like to talk extensions mid-season anyway and it sounds like Higgins’ reps were the ones to cut off contact.

So, things change. The Bengals are now fine with the tag number, but the wideout market continues to explode. Perhaps the front office doesn’t want to commit for more than one year to a wideout who has had problems staying healthy, including missing five games last year.

Either way, the focus now shifts to when Higgins might report to the team and sign the tag, while it’s also all eyes on the when surrounding a Ja’Marr Chase extension (they picked up his fifth-year option and he wants to wait on the market to develop).

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More buzz about Joe Mixon’s future with Bengals surfaces

Buzz from the scouting combine about Joe Mixon.

As always, there is some notable free agency and draft buzz pertaining to the Cincinnati Bengals and 31 other teams as the league exits the scouting combine.

Understandably, some of the buzz around the Bengals centers on key talking points, such as Joe Mixon’s future with the team.

In his annual “things he heard” article, NBC Sports’ Matthew Berry tucked the following into the column: “Tyler Boyd is not expected to return and I was told Joe Mixon would be released. (Evergreen sentence. Shrug emoji).”

Everyone has an opinion on what the Bengals should do with Mixon. What we do know is that he took a pay cut to remain with the team last year and that the timing of his big roster bonus on March 17 sets a decision date right after the start of free agency.

Whether Mixon and the Bengals part ways will hinge on many factors, but chief among those is the $8.85 million cap hit next year and that $3 million roster bonus on March 17. If the sides do part, the Bengals will look at free agency and the draft to find a back to pair with sophomore Chase Brown.

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Bengals will reportedly look closely at safety in free agency

The Bengals will be players on the safety market in free agency, per a new report.

The Cincinnati Bengals, as expected, will put in some work at the safety position this offseason.

Even if the defense hadn’t paced the league in explosive plays permitted last year, the team continues to struggle to fill all the gaps left by losing Jessie Bates and Vonn Bell in the same offseason.

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Kelsey Conway, the Bengals will keep all options open while looking at the open market:

League sources tell The Enquirer the Bengals are checking in and have shown interest in the safety market ahead of free agency. This makes sense given the uncertainty of where Hill fits in Cincinnati’s defense. It seems highly likely the Bengals will address the safety position with a veteran. Jordan Battle is expected to remain the Bengals’ starting strong safety after a solid first season with the club. Free safety is where Cincinnati has a hole.

Hill’s position being fluid isn’t much of a shock given defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo’s affinity for three-safety sets and moving guys across formations.

While Hill struggled (compared to the All-Pro he was supposed to help replace), fellow rookie Jordan Battle had to emerge on short notice after free-agent signing Nick Scott flopped and depth piece Tycen Anderson couldn’t stay healthy.

Another veteran safety is the obvious move from here, with the Hill-Battle duo very much going into next season as starters and/or rotational pieces, too.

But expected growing pains for a young, revamped secondary, a lack of pass-rush up front and a complementary offense that struggled was a brutal combination that leaves the Bengals looking for help at the position.

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