3 Reasons Why Bengals Would Be Smart To Use Franchise Tag on Tee Higgins

3. They wont have this luxury going forward

Ultimately, something's going to give. Burrow's cap hit skyrockets next year, and there's a big ol' decision about Chase's contract coming down the pike – when the Bengals exercise his 5th year option, Chase's salary will go from around $4 million to around $20 million. And also, considering what top-end wide receivers are making right now, the $20 million that would go to Higgins under the tag is a relative steal. That numbers puts him with guys like Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, and Amari Cooper, all of whom are at least four years older than Higgins. In fact, he'd be the youngest wide receiver making that type of money by a sizable margain. So while it seems like a lot for a WR2, it's not the type of contract that others teams have on their books, which are paying for what guys used to be able to do. $20 million for a year of Higgins in his prime is about as good a wide receiver deal as you can find.