Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Tee Higgins was the only player in the NFL to play under a franchise tag during the 2024 season, and the Bengals are reportedly gearing up to deploy that tool for the second year in a row in an attempt to retain the wide receiver. However, his mom appeared to voice her displeasure with the team’s decision to harness that tactic once again.
There’s only so much NFL teams can do to avoid losing a player to free agency, but they have one very valuable weapon the arsenal courtesy of the franchise tag they can use to prevent a notable name from taking their talents to another team for at least one year after their contract expires.
In 2024, nine teams took advantage of the franchise tag in free agency, although eight of them ended up agreeing to a long-term deal with the player that was targeted. The lone exception? The Cincinnati Bengals, who were able to retain Tee Higgins when the wide receiver agreed to sign the one-year deal that netted him $21.8 million.
Higgins will undoubtedly be one of the hottest names on the market when free agency officially kicks off midway through March; he only played in 12 games during a 2024 campaign that was hampered by a hamstring injury, but there are plenty of NFL teams who would love to add the 26-year-old to their roster.
With that said, the Bengals have a ton of incentive to prevent him from leaving and breaking up the dynamic WR duo comprised of Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase, and on Monday, Sports Illustrated reported the team is planning on using the franchise tag on the former for the second year in a row.
He’d make $26.18 million from the non-exclusive tag that would give the team the right to match other offers, although it sounds like they’re hoping to use it to mediate the negotiation of a long-term deal ahead of what will be his sixth NFL season.
There’s no telling how Higgins feels about that move, but there’s one person who is seemingly not thrilled to hear about the development: his mom Lady Stewart, who sent a somewhat cryptic two-word tweet shortly after the news surfaced.
Selfish bastards
— TEEHIGGINSMOM #5 ✋🏽💫 (@adizlady) February 18, 2025
Now, it’s worth noting Stewart responded to multiple people who assumed she was referring to the franchise tag situation by insisting the tweet had nothing to do with it, but it’s pretty hard to ignore the very conspicuous timing of the message that could admittedly apply to plenty of other things.
The Bengals have until March 4th to officially exercise the franchise tag, and it’ll be very interesting to see how this ultimately pans out.