The Bengals, as we now know, decided to convert the second Tee Higgins franchise tag into a four-year deal. The decision to sign him to a multi-year deal was fairly recent.
Agent Rocky Arceneaux, who represents both Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase, told Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer on Tuesday that, before the Scouting Combine, the Bengals initially planned to tag and trade Higgins. Then, things changed.
“[P]rior to the combine, we talked about the franchise tag and what impact it could potentially have on Tee,” Arceneaux told Conway. “And when they decided to tag him, I had assumed, because we had talked about it prior to the tag with the intent of trading. So we proceeded along those lines, and once the process started, it became clear and evident that the Bengals, like I say, it was more inclined to pay him rather than trade him.”
Arceneaux added that, before the Combine, “I didn’t feel like there was a chance in hell to get both of them to stay in Cincinnati.” After the Combine, Arceneaux began talking to other teams. (It’s unclear whether the Bengals granted permission for those communications.)
“[W]e later learned that the Bengals were declining conversations about compensation for Tee,” Arceneaux said. “And that’s when I realized that they were more inclined to reward him instead of trading him. So, at that point, I think the structure and the tone of the negotiations took a turn for the better.”
It’s unclear why the Bengals pivoted. It would be foolish to rule out the possibility that quarterback Joe Burrow, who had sent multiple unmistakable messages to the Bengals during Super Bowl week, caught wind of the trade possibility and privately intervened, directly or through his representation.
The Bengals might have thought it would have been enough for Burrow to keep Chase, his LSU teammate. Burrow had been unambiguous in his public desire to keep Chase, Higgins, and others.
Regardless, something changed. Before the Combine, Higgins’s agent had the impression they were going to tag and trade Higgins. After the Combine, it changed. It’s possible that, during the Combine, Burrow’s representatives met with the Bengals and said just enough to get the Bengals to have a significant — and expensive — change of heart.
