During a recent appearance on the Wincinnati podcast, former Bengals star receiver A.J. Green shared some advice for Tee Higgins ahead up the latter's upcoming free agency. Higgins played the 2024 season under the franchise tag, and now he's poised to sign a long-term deal, somewhere.
There has been a whole lot of speculation about what Higgins is going to do in free agency, but the way Green sees it, Higgins shouldn't be too eager to walk away from a good situation -- and a great quarterback -- in Cincinnati.
A.J. Green thinks Tee Higgins should think twice before walking away from Joe Burrow
"He has a great quarterback," Green said, via A to Z Sports. "And you find a great quarterback to play with, I'm telling you, better stick with him."
The great quarterback that Green is referring to, of course, is Joe Burrow, who was named an MVP and Offensive Player of the Year finalist after a stellar 2024 campaign. Burrow led the entire league in completions (460), passing yards (4,918) and passing touchdowns (43).
He also became just the third quarterback in history to have over 4,500 passing yards, 40 passing touchdowns and fewer than 10 interceptions (Burrow had nine) in a season. Legends Tom Brady (2007) and Aaron Rodgers (2011) were the first two players to post such stats.
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Burrow publicly campaigned for the Bengals to re-sign Higgins this offseason on multiple occasions.
"You just can’t let him outside of the building," Burrow said of Higgins after Cincinnati's Week 18 win over Pittsburgh.
That comment came just days after Burrow made it clear that the Bengals would regret allowing Higgins to walk in free agency over the offseason.
"Whenever a great player leaves you wish you could have found a way to keep him," Burrow said. "You don't want to make a living out of letting great players leave the building. And I think that's why you gotta do everything you can to get those deals done early."
Ultimately though, it might not be up to Higgins. While he might want to remain in Cincinnati, he has to wait to see if the organization will be willing to provide him with the long-term security that he's seeking. If another team is willing to pay him much more than the Bengals are, no one would blame Higgins for securing the bag for himself.
So, while Green's advice makes sense and is coming from a place of experience, Higgins is ultimately going to have to make the decision on his own.