Cincinnati Bengals fans got to be optimistic about a Tee Higgins return for an entire evening.
With the future of the Bengals' vaunted wide receiver corps up in the air between Higgins' free agency and Ja'Marr Chase's upcoming extension, Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin, their de facto general manager, said what everybody wanted to hear on Tuesday.
On Chase, Tobin declared the team will make him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL, as expected. On Higgins, he indicated there was little reason to not expect him in a Bengals uniform next season and beyond:
"I think Tee Higgins is a fantastic football player and I want him on my football team. Whenever I'm in charge of a football team, I want Tee Higgins, and so I'm going to do what I can to get Tee Higgins. Our preference with Tee Higgins is to do a long-term agreement. Always has been, it continues to be, and we'll work hard to get that done.
"I'm optimistic until there's reason not to be, and I've always been optimistic with Tee."
Accomplishing both a Chase extension and a long-term Higgins deal has been seen by many as a difficult task, even though Tobin said he was happy with where the team's cap space is for the offseason.
However, that optimism might have been diminished when Higgins posted a single emoji late Tuesday night:
Cap, as in "someone is lying." It's not hard to connect the dots there.
Higgins is ranked by chof360 Sports as the No. 1 free agent in the NFL this offseason and is likely going to be paid like a true No. 1 receiver if the Bengals let him hit the market. At 26 years old, he has 4,595 career receiving yards and 34 touchdowns in five seasons. Players like that rarely hit the open market, and teams will be paying well into the nine figures when they do.
On the other hand, as much money as Higgins is due, Chase is due a lot more. The former fifth overall pick is coming off a receiver triple crown at 24 years old and is positioned as the top wideout in the NFL. It's hard to justify giving Higgins what he's going to want when Chase's bill is going to come due.
This debate has been looming for the Bengals ever since Chase became a star in his rookie year. Higgins' single tweet indicates they still have some work to do.
