Well, it's looking like the Cincinnati Bengals are going to slap a franchise tag on Tee Higgins for the second straight year, which basically eliminates any chance the Las Vegas Raiders have of landing him.
Yes, the Raiders can still technically swing a trade for Higgins, but the Bengals are apparently very open to discussing a long-term deal with the wide receiver, which would remove him from the market entirely.
And to be perfectly honest, the dreams Las Vegas fans had of signing Higgins in free agency were never incredibly realistic to begin with.
First of all, the possibility always existed that Higgins could return to Cincinnati. He has made it pretty clear that he has enjoyed his time with the Bengals, and his relationship with quarterback Joe Burrow seems absolutely fantastic.
Second, even if Cincinnati did allow Higgins to hit the open market, would he have seriously been all that amenable to joining the Raiders given their current quarterback situation?
Las Vegas has no clue who will be under center in 2025. It obviously would have had a better idea had it landed a top pick in the NFL Draft, but instead, the Raiders fell to sixth, which may have destroyed their chances of bagging Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward in April.
Higgins almost certainly wouldn't leave his situation with Burrow to link up with a team that doesn't even have a definitive starter under center.
Yes, in theory, the Raiders could have signed someone like Sam Darnold to potentially lure Higgins, but would that have even worked? Is Darnold—who has only had one good season since entering the NFL in 2018—that much of a commodity?
Las Vegas was always likely going to go the route of landing second-tier weapons in free agency and then building through the draft, which is perfectly fine.
There will be plenty of solid wide outs available next month, and there will also be a plethora of options on the board in the draft.
So don't fret over Higgins inching toward remaining in Cincinnati. He was probably never going to give the Raiders much of a shot to begin with, and you know what? That's okay.
