Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Are there any good alternatives to extending Tee Higgins? It sure is hard to find them

Episode Date: February 11, 2025

Joe Burrow and the Locked On Bengals podcast have made it clear that extending Tee Higgins is the right path forward. If the Bengals aren't convinced, they'll have to find a way to navigate the cap implications of a potential tag-and-trade and find a trade partner that can return enough value to give them a chance at replacing Higgins' value and more, and they'll have to do it quickly. With that in mind, in this episode Jake Liscow and James Rapien analyze the difficulty of the "alternative path" to keeping Higgins.Join the Locked On Bengals Insider Community! https://joinsubtext.com/lockedonbengalsFind and follow Locked On Bengals on your favorite podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-bengals-daily-podcast-on-the-cincinnati-bengals/id1159723162Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7AObc0lh0WmQl5fJVgtajsGoogle Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vbG9ja2Vkb25iZW5nYWxz?sa=X&ved=0CAYQrrcFahcKEwio_sXtj8nuAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAgStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-bengalsSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.PrizePicksDownload the app and use code lockedonnfl to win $50 instantly when you play $5. You don't even need to win to receive your $50 bonus, it's guaranteed! Prizepicks. Run Your Game.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLFanDuelRight now, new FanDuel customers can get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in Bonus Bets if your first FIVE DOLLAR bet wins!Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.   FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Joe Burrow has made his stance on T. Higgins very clear. So have we, the host of the Locked on Bengals podcast. But today, let's explore the alternatives and the cost to moving on from T. Higgins in 2025. You are Locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What up, Bengals fans, and welcome to another episode of the Locked on Bengals podcast. I'm your host, Jake Liskow. He's your host, James Rupin, and we are Lockdown Bengals on the Lockdown Podcast Network,

your team every day on YouTube and everywhere you get your podcast. Welcome back to all of the everydayers out there who don't miss an episode. We've been talking about exploring alternatives for a couple of weeks now to the offseason idea of keeping T. Higgins and T. Higgins and T. Higgins and today, we will start that conversation with T. Higgins. Also shout out to those of you who make us your first listen. Appreciate being part of your routine. and if you're new to the show, you can subscribe to make sure you don't miss an episode as we work through this Bengals offseason and all these important decisions they have to make is James Adam Schaefter is calling the Bengals the most interesting team to watch this off season. Okay.

And the T. Higgins topic and the T. Hedgson topic and the Jamar Chase extension, which needs to get done sooner than later, are all things that make the Bengals interesting to watch this off season. And like I said, at the top, our position is pretty clear. this is an exploratory episode. This is a, what if they decide to move on from T. Higgins? What does that look like? Because just, again, to be clear about it, and you can reiterate your preference as well, extending T. Higgins still makes sense to the host of this podcast.

Yeah, T. Higgins should be a top priority. And as we record this, February 11th, we are T-minus one week, Jake. Let's go one week away from the franchise tag window. opening up. And that will be a two-week window where the Bengals can place the franchise tag on T. Higgins. That is key. That is very important.

And I know some are going to say, do not tag T again. To me, that is going to tell us a lot about this situation. Because I think it's going to be hard for T. Higgins, knowing the teams that are interested in him, to not want to look at the market. Like I know it's easy for us to say, get the deal done, get the deal done.

but T. Higgins is a month away from free agency. He can get to free agency, even though he wants to be in Cincinnati and loves Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase. Of course he's going to want to test the market. And I've said this. I think if he gets to the market, you're talking 32, 33, 34, 35 million per. I think he gets a lot of money and more money than people expect, which means he will not return to Cincinnati. The Bengals can sort of prevent that from happening where they're out of, they can assume some control at least, some negotiating power by tagging T. Higgins. And we'll see if they do that.

If they do 26.1,7 million or so on that franchise tag, so it could be as early as a week from today, Jake, when we learn that the Bengals are franchise tagging T. Higgins. And then from February 18th to March 4th, it's a two-week window there. I know it feels like more days, but there's less days in March. our two-week window where franchise tags can be placed on stars like T. Higgins. Let's say it's in February, of course. Let's talk about the likelihood of the tag on T. Higgins before we talk about what that would mean.

Because there are cap implications. There are what the Bengals plan to do implications. And it would give us some hints about what the thought process is. And you can extrapolate from a decision to tag him or not tag him. It may not happen on the first day of the franchise tag window. This time around, maybe they open the conversation with T by saying, hey, let's avoid the franchise tag. Let's see if we can get this done without a franchise tag first

and then hold that in their back pocket and say, well, we're not going to let you walk for free. Maybe we'll trade you, but we're going to put the tag on you eventually. So before we get to those details around the franchise tag, as you allude to the big number and cap hit attached to, What do you think the likelihood is that that is the eventual path to Bengals choose? I think it's interesting that you just brought that up, like them possibly waiting, because in that two-week window is the NFL Combine.

And last year they tagged him before Duke Tobin and Zach Taylor and everyone talked publicly, talked privately. And if you're the Bengals and you want to at least explore the idea of trading tea, maybe you wait to place the tag and just have those. conversations, maybe you hammer out a trade at the combine. I think that's pretty unlikely for the Bengals, even though trades happen all the time. Deals are negotiated at the combine all the time. So I do think that that's a wrinkle. To me, there's two things here. And it kind of goes to the communication side of it as well. Do they just straight up tag tea like they did last year,

where I think they were like, tag, you're it. And there was no negotiation at all. Or is it is the communication there where it's like, look, T, we want you, we want to work out a long-term deal. This is a formality. We're placing this tag on you because obviously we're not going to let you get the free agency because we want you here a long-term. And by placing this tag on you, we want to sign you to a long-term deal. Or is it the cold shoulder? Kind of like last year. And I'm not saying they're wrong for that last year, but where they were like tag him.

and let's hit. I mean, a lot of people criticize them for that, but I really don't think that they planned on keeping T beyond 2024. That's why they use the tag. And now they look and they're like, we have money to spend this free agency class sucks. And there's no, and we'll get into this. It's not like there's a bunch of other T. Higgins is available in free agency.

So it all signs point to that. So I do think that there's a lot of factors. I would be surprised if they did not, franchise tag T. And to take it a step farther, Jake, I would be really critical of them if we're talking three weeks from now and T. Higgins isn't franchise tagged and set to test the market because I don't think, I think there is a 0.0% chance he comes back to Cincinnati if he saw or if he hits free agency. I just, I'll get wooed too much. It's, it's one of those things where I think the money, the opportunity, the wine and dining, I just, I don't think,

and by the way, I don't mean in-person wine and dining. I mean, the, oh, my God, T, you're so great. Here's 33 million per year. I mean, who knows what is thrown at him guaranteed dollars-wise if he hits free agency. And it happened in the season on Hard Knocks. Mike Tomlin started it. We saw it. I mean, we know. Yeah. There are teams that covet T. Higgins. there are teams in the division, there are teams in the AFC, there are teams that you do not want to employ T. Higgins, if you're a Bengals fan, that will try to obtain his services for sure. I think that the most important thing you point out there is like,

if the Bengals don't tag T. Higgins, that is probably an indication that he is going to go test the open market. So they have to tag T. Higgins. If they want to get anything for T. Higgins, if they want to try to keep T. Higgins, I think that the tag is necessary. I think that to your point, they need to have those conversations so that it's not like,

hey, we're going to tag you and you're going to play the tag and we're not going to talk to your agent because we can't talk to Dave Amalegeta. Hopefully they can work with Rocky Arsenal as they try to figure out the deals for Jamar Chase and for T. Higgins. And that, I think, was the expectation when T switched to agents

and hopefully they're prepared for the idea that the franchise tag is coming. And there is a cost to the Bengals. for taking that approach, even if they do work out a long-term deal, that I want to explore as well, but it looks like you have something you're eager to add. Yeah, I just tell them today.

Let's not pretend like they don't know. Yeah. They know today. Don't you think they know today? I mean, it's been weeks since. I mean, we've talked about this how long, and it's not like we're recording for 22 hours a day. This is their job.

Like, they have to know. they're tagging T right by now so just tell him yep so I'm just saying you could give him a heads up well ahead of time hey T we're going to tag you it's a formality we want to keep you long term and maybe they have but given what we've heard about the way this front office communicates that would be something that I don't think you can safely assume no let's say I would say that's fair but not assume let's be somewhat kind about this coming up next let's talk about some of the implications of the franchise tag and what that means about the way the Bengals have to approach this offseason

and when decisions have to be made as there is a financial cost to the franchise tag, even if they are working on an extension that would incentivize the Bengals to move quickly on this. We'll get into the reasons why and what that looks like coming up next. Today's show is brought to you by Fandle. Fandul is America's number one sports book. And when the game tips off, the NBA action is just getting started. And there's no better place to get in on all of the action than Fandul. With Fandle, you can place live bets throughout the game.

So even if you miss the opening tip and you want to bet on the fourth quarter comeback, you can stay in the action. Let's be honest. The fourth quarter is when NBA basketball heats up anyway. If you're looking for a bigger payout, you can even combine your live bets. Combine them the same time while the game's going on into a same game, Rale right now new customers with Fandall can get $150 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins.

So whether you want to get in on all of the NFL futures, Bangle Super Bowl odds for next year, Super Bowl 60, the NBA, baseball is right around the corner with the Cincinnati Reds as well. Fandall is the place to go. Again, visit fandel.com to join today. That's fandle.com for your shot at $150 in bonus bets. Make every moment more with Fandle. the official sports betting partner of the NBA. I mentioned at the beginning of the show, James,

this Adam Schefter list of the most interesting teams in the NFL offseason this year. The Bengals were at the top of that list, and as we said, they have some very interesting decisions to make. And the frustrating thing to me, listening to various national reporters, the guys with all the connections to agents on Radio Row last week, And we'll talk a little bit more about that probably in tomorrow's episode.

And even reading this piece from Schefter is he starts this paragraph by saying, the Bengals have approximately $46 million in cap space. How they allocate it will define the future seasons for this franchise. And then he goes on to say that if they do franchise tag T. Higgins and they opt to try to tag and trade him, they would have to carry that $26 million franchise tag in cap hit into the new league year. And there are a few things here. First, even if we say they're going to cut the most conservative set of players are going to cut, Sheldon Rankin's, Alex Kappa, Zach Moss, and say they rework Sam Hubbard's deal so he's back for a much lower salary,

that puts them around $75 million in cap space right away. So this $46 million number that you're going to see in national articles, if you haven't listened to us for a while, in the various episodes we've had talking about the cap, it is not going to be the number the Bengals were working with in reality. Yeah, T. Higgins franchise tag into that mix, though, and you go from $76 million or $75 million down to about $50 million in cap space right away from the franchise tech. There's also cash considerations for the Bengals,

how much cash are they going to spend? We've talked about that in previous episodes this year as well. Better be a lot. And it should be at least like $160 million or so. A lot of that's going to be Jamar Chase. And then there's T. Hendrickson and then there's T. Higgins to talk about. But the point is that the best. Bengals are incentivized then and where Schefter isn't wrong here to, if they tag him,

get either an extension or trade done as soon as possible so that they can fully allocate the salary cap to the extent the Bengals will fully allocate their salary cap in a year because we have been critical that they don't maximize it by either trading him and getting that tag off the books. You have $26 million to spend in free agency where you will be desperately trying to replace the skills of T. Higgins and improve. your roster somehow or extend T to figure out what exactly that cap it will look like because it wouldn't be $26 million in year one most likely and then figure out how you can fit the rest

of your free agency plans into your cap. Yeah, I think that and we're going to, I guess, keep bringing up the combine. I didn't plan on it, but that makes the combine that much more important because this free agent class of receiver stinks. So my T. Higgins is going to make so much money he gets the free agency. I really, I think he will get more than A.J. Brown's getting from the Eagles,

so 32 million per. It's because you have Chris Godwin coming off of a serious injury. You have Amari Cooper unproductive in Buffalo at 31 years old. Keenan Allen, my age,

we talked about our ages this week. You can't be 33 and expect to get big money on the open market. Probably runs a 4-8 right now. Jake, let's go, you might beat Keenan Allen in a 40-yard dash.

And so those are like, like there's some big names, Stefan Diggs. coming off of an ACL, but they're old and they're coming off of injuries. And so D'Andre Hopkins drops a crucial ball in Super Bowl 59 and doesn't catch on with the Chiefs. I think that's part of this too is like if you're the Bengals and you're thinking on, oh, well, we can trade tea. Fine.

This is the exploratory episode. The answer isn't in free agency. One of the best options might be Darius Slaten, a 28-year-old. Like, that's rough. There's no other T. Higgins that you can go pay. And so why is the Combine important? Because you're evaluating these prospects and you need to be able to find the next guy. And that next guy is not on your roster.

I think Andre Yosevaas is the closest thing to that on the roster right now. I think he's a contributor. I think he's going to help them over the next few years. I don't think he's their wide receiver too if they're going to be a Super Bowl winning team. And so who is that? that's the answer is you have to figure that out at the combine, I think, if you're going to trade T. Because to your point, you want to open up that cap space by the time free agency really rolls around. And you better be hoping or realistically thinking that you can address wide receiver and fill that void that T leaves behind in the draft.

This should be a very busy less than month. Is it less than a month until the new league year, right? It should be a very busy. It's like a month. Okay. Very busy several weeks for the Bengals front office because they want to know what exactly their cap situation will look like in that new league year. You want to know what exactly your plans are for cutting players.

They should know that today. They should have been able to reach those decisions. How Golden has been in the building long enough to figure out which defensive players he wants to keep, if any, right, of the potential cut candidates. So of the cut can't Cut them up Yeah I know what you mean We're gonna get 26 new defensive players in one season No

But they should they should know the cuts at this point right What they don't know is Exactly how potential extensions or trades Of T. Higgins And not a potential trade for Jamar Chase But the extension for Jamar Chase Will fit into the cat picture And so getting

to free agency knowing that seems like a great idea if you're the Bengals. You know that you want to extend Jamar Chase. You got deep into negotiations last year. You didn't get it across the finish line. And they held money back because they thought they were going to pay Jamar Chase a large amount of money last year. And maybe that's why that one extra move that we've talked about on the interior offensive line or interior defensive line didn't happen.

So instead of that this year, you want to get to free agency knowing as soon as possible because you're probably trying to find ways to make the team better that aren't at wide receiver at that point. You're trying to find other ways to spend money. And good luck in this free agency class, quite honestly. And it underscores to me the importance of keeping T. Higgins because we started the tiering exercise that we do every year for figuring out, you know, who are the tier one free agents. To me, there's one this year and it's T. That's it. And I know you might have had some other ones in that tier one range.

I didn't. But you're talking about for young guys, you're talking about a risk on Chris Godwin coming off a dislocated ankle at 29. You're talking about Hollywood Brown who didn't play all year with the shoulder injury. And you can question the fit for that kind of player in the Bengals offense, although it would add a speed element for sure. And you mentioned Jerry Slayton and receiver for like guys that could potentially be number twos. in the Bengals offense.

The answer is not there for agency. Clear downgrades. Clear downgrades. Yeah, I had a couple others, just Milton Williams, Trey Smith as Tier 1. But I would have, like, let's say they signed Trey Smith. I would have big questions about how he would fit with this past first Bengals offense.

So it's, I know how T fits. I don't know if Milton Williams. as good as he is, is enough to let go of T, especially because this wide receiver class, I don't think there's necessarily a Brian Thomas that's just going to be sitting there when they're on the clock at 17, like there was last year. And they got a Marius Mims and they should have. But now, do you pay T or do you go with the unknown? I think that's a part of it.

At the same time, and this is where the conversation could get interesting, let's say they do tag him with the intent of trading him. the path to them being better in 2025 without T. Higgins versus with T. Higgins, I think that's where I struggle with it. That's why I'm in the pay T business. But maybe they feel differently. And so we can have that conversation a bit as far as how they could get better. Is it a bunch of tier two free agents, tier three free agents, that might have been a tier lower in previous years? We'll get to that and much, much more coming up next. Today's show is brought to you by prize picks.

Prize picks is a daily fantasy the way it should be. And football season may be over, but basketball is in full swing. And there's no better way to stay in the game than with prize picks. It's the best place for daily sports. With prize picks, you just pick more or less on at least two player projections. And if you're right, you can win up to win. 100 times your cash. So let's say you're a big Celtics fan and you think Jason Tatum is going to have a big week.

Or you think that Luca Donchich's 14 points in his Lakers debut is much, much lower than it's going to be in his second game in the purple and gold. Well, all you have to do is download the Praspex Pets app. And right now, when you download the app and use code Lockdown NFL, you'll get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. That's called Lockdown NFL for $50 instant. after you play your first $5 lineup. Prize picks, run your game. Talking about how the Bengals can get better, what compensation might look like?

I do think is an interesting exercise. There are some receivers in this draft class that look like they could be promising receivers in the NFL. It's not last year's draft class. It's not the strongest wide receiver draft class by any means. But first, let's talk about compensation. Talking about some teams that might be interested in the services of people.

T. Higgins? Who are the teams you think that would be vying the most for T. Higgins if we got to a trade bidding war, let's say, like which team is willing to give up their first round pick that really wants to get a T on their team? But the Bengals would be willing to deal with, I think, is a caveat here. Yeah. So as far as trade, first round pick is interesting because I think the Patriots are in. I'm not sure they would be in with the fourth overall pick, right? And so is Sure, huh? Is that a fourth? No, but, but maybe they still say we want T,

but we want T and 17 for four in our third. I don't know. I'm just saying that there's, it's probably unlikely. I think the Patriots would be the team that would give him like $35 million per year if he hits the open market because pairing him with Drake May, you could say yourself on that very quickly. But other teams that would be interested, the Steelers, but they wouldn't trade for them.

I think the Texans would be interesting, depending. I haven't looked at their cap situation, but I think that they would try. I think the Chargers would probably call. The Broncos could be interesting. They could be in that wide receiver market. Obviously, you would want to trade him to the NFC

in a perfect world. Washington is going to be big fish hunting. I think they will be at the top of a lot of people's lists. After that, the Packers, a team that could have drafted Tee a few years ago, ended up with Jordan Love, and now maybe they bring both guys together. I think the Packers could be in.

And then after that, it gets interesting. I know a lot of people have talked about Atlanta. I'm not sure Atlanta would do it. You never want to rule out the Rams for making a move just in general. The 49ers, I don't think that they would be able to pull off a trade. So I do think that the trade market is a bit more limited. I'm sure there's a sneaky team or two in there. Of all the teams I mentioned, I would say the commanders being the,

the favorite. Commanders and Packers would be the two for first-round picks that I'd be targeting if I were the Bengals. I think that Peter Berkowski, Lockdown Packers, has been talking to me about T. Higgins for two years, trying to get me to get Mike Brown to trade him up to Green Bay. I think that there's a desire for T. Higgins from Green Bay Packers fans. Now, front office, obviously, a different story. The other one that I would throw in there, and I'm only really looking at NFC teams here, is the Titans. and obviously not with the first overall pick,

but perhaps the 33rd pick, if they still own the 33rd pick, which I think they do. I haven't looked at what picks they've traded or kept, but if the Titans wanted to package a 33rd pick with something else, perhaps, for T. Higgins, or maybe that's the offer that they would get, I think that that would be something that you would probably have to listen to as well,

as well if you got to the point where you had to trade him. But if you're talking about the back of the first round, picks after the Bengals pick at 17, are you shoehorning yourself into drafting receiver at 17 after we've spent all this time already this offseason talking about getting to the draft being open to pick the best player that's going to make the biggest impact on your team right away and into the future? Do you want to need that impact at wide receiver

as opposed to an edge rusher, potentially a tight end or potentially a defensive tackle or potentially XYZ position where you could improve and still have T, that's what you keep coming back to. But if we're talking about alternatives, you're ideally picking up a first round pick and I think then very, very, very strongly considering

trying to add a talent that can approximate T. Higgins with one of those first round picks. what about the Panthers would be the other team I would mention sure yeah I don't know what that package would look like you know pick swap kind of thing there maybe is what you're thinking well maybe they just offer their second round pick

they're picking eighth overall so maybe they go their second round pick and you ask for their second and third or something I just think that that would be interesting I just the Bengals might say like I could totally see them saying no we want eight overall And that being it, like we know what T is.

We value T. And so from that standpoint, I think it's interesting. If you're getting multiple picks, like if you really got the Panthers to offer second and third round picks and you're confident, you can get a receiver at 17. From the depth, like you look at the Daniel Jeremiah, he tweeted something out, I think it was today or yesterday, about how deep it is in the defensive line room this year. Adding a second rounder and a third rounder, plus you clear up that money. Like, you can see the path to them being better. There is a path. They just got to get it right.

And it makes it harder because that means you've got to get the 17th pick right. And you've got to find the right trade. And then you've got to get your second rounders right. And your third round, like there's just a lot that has to go right for them to be right and to be better and to get the boost that they need in that area and other areas if they don't pay T. So it is doable. but it just seems unlikely given what the past few years have been like. Now, teams have ebbs and flows with draft in draft success and lack thereof. I think that the Bengals in general are pretty good at drafting receivers.

They knew they were taking a risk with Jermaine Burton. Being evicted for a second time in two months, it just doesn't feel like you can bank on him. So they're going to be looking at receiver regardless of T. Does it mean it's going to be in the first one? round and I'd rather it not be. But man oh man, would, will teams come calling if they tag him? I think they will and they should because

if you're the Panthers, can you sell yourself on 26 year old T. Higgins? Absolutely. I don't think you can sell yourself on Keenan Allen or some of these other guys that are certainly past their prime. And that just is what we keep coming back to. I know this is supposed to be like, what can

they do that's different from keeping team? But I keep coming back to you like, man, this free agency class in general doesn't even give you the real path to remaking your team and rebuilding strengths you can you can patch some holes in free agency this year you can improve in a couple of spots but they're really going to need to hit in the draft to get better they're going to need to find those instant impact players in the draft to get better or they're going to need to find a player trade for t higgins that can improve them somewhere else as they get worse at wider receiver too. And that's like one of the options, right, is get better elsewhere, but there's no

opportunity this offseason to rebuild your offensive line and get a Sequin Barclay and then have this big running element that you're going to incorporate in your office. Not that the Bengals would do that with Joe Burrow anyway, but that path isn't even that visible to me. I can't find that option this offseason as with last off season there are a couple of marquee running backs. available. This year, there's some running backs available, but nothing like Sequin or Derek Henry. So in trying to find these alternatives, this is why we keep coming back to T. Higgins is to me, taking that $26 million in cap space this year, whatever it is, or all the cash they would spend on an extension, and finding ways to allocate that elsewhere that would actually make the team better enough

that the drafting a first round or second round wide receiver in not a great wide receiver class, but a class where you can get guys that can help you, are you really replacing that skill set? And you look at the history of trying to replace stars for the Bengals and how much trouble they've had with that over the years, how infrequently they've gotten it right. And it brings us back to where we started, which is it's tough to find a good alternative.

Would you see, this is the fun part of it. Let's because this is the, all right, here's time for the fun. Ready? go. What if you called the Patriots and offered them T. Higgins for Christian Gonzalez? You think they'd hang up? The Patriots? Yep. Gonzalez has few years left in a fifth year option. I think that that's so difficult to conceive of that that I don't even know how you would approach that. I think that they would say, now we want to keep Christian Gonzalez, let's talk about picks or another player in picks.

Like getting a player on a rookie deal who's a pro bowler for T. Higgins' back. back is tough. Okay. You call the Jets. Because Garrett Wilson, there's rumblings that he could potentially be available. T for Garrett Wilson, straight up. I think you do that, right? Well, the Bengals probably do it.

Do the Jets. I guess it depends on the internal dynamics of what they think is going to happen with Garrett Wilson. And so, but that's it, man. It's one thing to go with Joe and say, hey, man, we've got a second round pick for T. Higgins. If you come back and you say, hey, we have Garrett Wilson, and now we have another year and we're going to be able to use this money to get Milton Williams. Now we have Garrett Wilson and Milton Williams. You can find the paths to them be. The Jets probably say no, by the way.

But the point is these are all the discussions, and there's a thousand other ones I could come up with. I just came up with those pretty quickly here. A thousand other ones you could come up with where it's like, oh, I wonder, would that work? is that something you know what so just throwing that out out there that there's plenty of different combos there but ultimately you pay tea make it very very clear at the end of this like you said pay tea keep him i think you keep him for 25 to 27 million per maybe it gets to 28 or 29 i i think you can and you do that and retool around him this offense could be really really really good.

Start changing the way you do contracts and you can fit a whole lot more into your salary cap as the Eagles have taught us. Not that you can go full Eagles, I don't think the Bengals even can, but if they just took bits and pieces of the way the Eagles operate and the way they get out ahead of things and they're proactive and creative and apply that here, that sure would be something. Save yourself some money in the process. That's going to do it for this episode of the Lock. on Bengals podcast as we struggled to find the alternatives to extending T. Higgins for 30 minutes.

Until next time, thanks for listening. Ho day. Have a good one.