5 pending 2024 free agents Bengals fans should worry about losing

Football, at the end of the day, is a business. While winning the Super Bowl is the ultimate goal for any team, making money is a top priority for owners and front offices across the league. And sometimes, for the sake of the almighty dollar, you have to let some beloved players that might ask for a little too much go.

The Cincinnati Bengals have several notable names in free agency in 2024-- many starters and fan favorites who have made a huge impact on the team during their time in Cincinnati.

While it would be great if they could keep all of them, with Ja'Marr Chase and Joe Burrow's contracts specifically still needing to be worked out, it's simply not feasible. Here are five pending free agents on the horizon that Bengals fans should worry about moving on to other teams.

All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference

Tee Higgins

The star attraction of the explosive Bengals' offense is Burrow and their big trio of receivers, those, of course, being Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Tyler Boyd (who we will get to in a moment).

While Chase is the unmistakable star of the receiving room, Higgins very well could be WR1 for at least half of the teams in the NFL, coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons as a second option. In his short time in Cincinnati, he's put up outstanding performances and made incredible catches, with a physical element to his game that may make fans hark back to the days of prime A.J. Green.

In short, Higgins has been an amazing receiving threat in stripes and it'd be painful to see him go. Unfortunately, that just might happen.

With Chase and Burrow already due big contracts, the front office might not be willing to give Higgins the money he may ask for and is worth, asSpotrac lists the Clemson product's market value at $20 million a year.

While director of player personnel Duke Tobin has firmly stated that he's not interested in dealing Higgins to any other teams, there's still a very real chance Higgins could walk next free agency to a team willing to pay him much more for his services. Let's hope we see more seasons of him dominating in a Bengals uniform.