Outlet lists 1 trade Bengals should consider before 2024 NFL season starts

The 2024 NFL season is rapidly approaching, but there's still time for teams to make a last-minute trade if the opportunity presented itself. With that in mind, Bleacher Report recently listed one trade that every team in the league should consider before the start of the season.

1 trade Bengals should consider before the seasons starts

For the Cincinnati Bengals, the suggested trade was moving star wide receiver Tee Higgins to the New England Patriots in exchange for a 2025 second-round pick. The provided rationale is pretty obvious and basically hinges on the fact that the Bengals risk losing Higgins for nothing in free agency next year if they don't trade him. Here's some of what the outlet had to say:

"The best move for the Bengals might be to trade Higgins now. It would allow them to ship him to a team that isn't going to be a factor in the playoff race this season and get a higher pick than they will in two years from the compensatory formula. ... The Patriots would fit the bill. They have a long way to go before they are contenders but could use a No. 1 receiver to help develop Drake Maye."

First of all, these hypothetical trade is based on New England offering a second round pick next year, which we don't know for sure that they would even be willing to do. It also seems like the Bengals should be able to get a bit more for a receiver of Higgins' caliber if they actually did want to trade him.

Then, the obvious counter to the logic provided here is that the Bengals are trying to maximize their chance to get back to the Super Bowl in the 2024 season, and their best chance to do that is with Higgins on the roster. Future draft picks are great, but they don't help out on the field in the short-term. With Higgins and Ja'marr Chase serving as the top targets for quarterback Joe Burrow, the Bengals have an extremely explosive offense.

It's a tough decision to make, but it certainly seems like Cincinnati's front office is leaning toward keeping Higgins on the roster for the upcoming campaign and then letting him walk in free agency next offseason -- similar to what the team did with Jessie Bates III a couple years back.