The Carolina Panthers absolutely need to avoid making the big offseason move that everyone is begging them to make in 2025

If the Carolina Panthers are wise, they'll avoid making the big offseason transaction that it seems like everyone is begging them to make. 

It's no secret that Carolina could use a stud wide receiver. Second-year quarterback Bryce Young took a big step forward last season, but if he's going to thrive in Charlotte, he needs an elite target in the passing game. 

That's why plenty of folks are hoping that the Panthers will make a run at wide receiver Tee Higgins. 

Higgins, who has spent the first five years of his NFL career with the Cincinnati Bengals, is scheduled to be a free agent when the new league year begins in March. 

Pro Football Focus rates Higgins as the top available free agent this offseason. 

The Carolina Panthers should avoid signing Tee Higgins

I like Higgins as a player. I think he's a great wide receiver and he deserves a nice payday. 

But I don't think signing him is a move that should be on the Panthers' radar. 

For starters, it's not like Carolina is just a receiver away from competing for a championship. The Panthers have plenty of holes to fill this offseason (such as the entire secondary) and signing Higgins would require a huge chunk of cash. 

Pro Football Focus recently projected that Higgins will receive a deal worth $112 over four years. 

That number could end up being even higher due to the fact that there's still a chance that the Bengals will find a way to keep Higgins in Cincinnati (Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow hasn't been shy about his desire to keep Higgins in Cincy). 

The Panthers will almost certainly have to blow Cincinnati's offer out of the water to convince Higgins to come to Charlotte. And the last thing the Panthers need to do this offseason is get into a bidding war for a player. 

Another reason the Panthers need to avoid signing Higgins is because he's been injury prone the last couple of years. Higgins has missed 10 games in the last two seasons. He was mostly healthy during his first three years in the league, but that hasn't been the case over the last two years. Spending that much cash on a player who might be injury prone would be quite a risk. 

There's also the fact that Higgins has been thriving in an offense that also includes the best wide receiver in the league (Ja'Marr Chase) and one of the top five quarterbacks in the league (Burrow). What does Higgins' production look like when Chase isn't on the field and Burrow isn't running the offense? Is he worth almost $30 million a year? 

Carolina would be better served to search for a wide receiver in the first round of the draft. Adding to the wide receiver room is a good idea, but it can't be a contract like the one Higgins will command this offseason. The Panthers simply have too many other needs to address this offseason. 

Higgins is a good player, but Carolina needs to let someone else pick up that bill.