Round 3: Pick 84 - Zay Flowers, WR (Boston College)
With Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd both entering the final year of their contracts, the Bengals will need another receiver waiting in the wings in case one (or both) of those guys isn't retained. We saw all of the wide receiver drama that went down this past offseason with Davante Adams, A.J. Brown, and Tyreek Hill getting traded because their teams couldn't afford to give them the massive contracts they wanted.
Sadly, it could be a similar situation with Higgins. Boyd is probably the one who would agree to stay in Cincinnati while Higgins knows he can be a WR1 and get paid like it elsewhere. Obviously we all hope that he'll stay in town but football is a business and these guys have to get their money when they can.
Enter, Zay Flowers out of Boston College to be one of the new starting receivers in the Queen City. As of this writing, Flowers has totaled 556 yards and five touchdowns for the Eagles. He's been putting on clinics since his sophomore season in 2020, where he tallied 892 yards and nine touchdowns. In 2021, he had 746 yards and five touchdowns.
If the Bengals are able to keep both Higgins and Boyd for the 2023 season, then wide receiver probably doesn't need to be addressed on Day 2 of the draft. If, however, Higgins wants an extension this offseason, Cincinnati might end up being forced to trade him before the end of his contract.
What do you think of this mock draft?