Wide receiver unsurprisingly named as player Bengals should consider trading

Wide receiver Tee Higgins requested a trade away from the Cincinnati Bengals at the start of free agency in March, and the team should consider granting his wish, according to Bleacher Report. The publication recently listed Higgins as a player the Bengals might want to try to trade before the start of the 2024 NFL season.

Bleacher Report basically makes the case that Higgins' long-term future with the Bengals is a major question mark, and the team would be wise to get something in return for the star receiver while they still can. Here's some of the provided rationale:

". . . The Bengals slapped the franchise tag on Higgins in 2024, but in past years if Cincy tags someone, that all but guarantees they are gonesville the following season.

"Trading Higgins at this point wouldn't be an easy sell for fans of a Bengals team with playoff aspirations—Chase is one of the very best wideouts in the game, but dealing Higgins would leave Cincinnati awfully thin behind him. . . But there are still a few veteran free agents available who have produced in the past, and the market for Higgins' services should be robust even in June."

Higgins wants to remain in Cincinnati

Higgins has been a no-show at Cincinnati's OTAs this offseason, but he also recently made it clear that he would love to remain with the Bengals long-term if the opportunity presented itself.

“As far as coming back, I would love to come back,” Higgins said on a recent podcast appearance. “I grew as a man in the past four years here. Grew as a player, made — got good new friendships. Great relationships with people not in the facility, in the City of Cincinnati, the fans are great. So I would definitely love to be here. But if that’s not the situation, then that’s not the situation.”

There's been a ton of buzz about a potential trade involving Higgins all offseason, but one has yet to materialize, and at this point it seems somewhat unlikely that one will