Tee Higgins’ reflection of past trade request reveals why his efforts to stay with the Bengals ultimately succeeded

Higgins was in a much different position last year.

Signing Tee Higgins to a four-year, $115 million contract was an effort that took the Cincinnati Bengals half as long as the contract itself. Cincinnati started negotiations with its 2020 second-round draft pick back in early 2023. Two full seasons, two franchise tag placements, and much drama later, both sides locked in their long-term commitments to one another in March of this year.

Part of that drama was Higgins requesting a trade, technically on two occasions. The first came at the onset of free agency in 2024, two weeks after the Bengals placed the first franchise tag on him. Negotiations had gotten nowhere at that point, and another request was sent several weeks later right before the NFL Draft.

It goes without saying Cincinnati declined Higgins’ requests, but Higgins’ mindset sending them in deserves to be heard as Bengals fans will appreciate the answer.

Tee Higgins reflects on trade request

Trade requests in the NFL are rarely what they seem to be on the surface. They’re largely just negotiating tactics from the player’s side; all to spark progress toward staying right where they are.

Higgins contemplated the idea of a trade going through, but told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler last week leaving the Bengals was never what he wanted.

“You put in the trade request, but you really don’t want to go nowhere,” Higgins told Fowler. “It’s like, ‘Are they really going to trade me?’ And if they trade me, then I have to shift my whole mindset. I’m not with this team no more, I’m with this new team. I wanted to be here, but if I was to get traded, I would have made that shift then. I didn’t want to make it too early, I would have been clocked out and I didn’t want that.”

Being valued at the level he valued himself was always important for Higgins, but his desire to be valued by Cincinnati was greater. The prioritization of staying on the Bengals eventually helped both sides reach the common ground they spent 24 months finding.

It’s why Higgins swapped agent representation in the middle of last season, and why Ja’Marr Chase made sure to ally with him during his own negotiations this offseason.

Higgins’ request could’ve been sincere in the sense of him actually wanting out, and the relationship could’ve tarnished to a point of no return if that were the case. Cincinnati working to reach a deal at that point would’ve been unlikely, and who knows where both parties would be under the direction of that timeline.

But Higgins wanted to stay, and stay he did.