The Bengals, as we now know, decided to convert the second Tee Higgins franchise tag into a four-year deal. The decision to sign him to a multi-year deal was fairly recent.
Agent Rocky Arceneaux, who represents both Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase, told Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer on Tuesday that, before the Scouting Combine, the Bengals initially planned to tag and trade Higgins. Then, things changed.
"[P]rior to the combine, we talked about the franchise tag and what impact it could potentially have on Tee,” Arceneaux told Conway. “And when they decided to tag him, I had assumed, because we had talked about it prior to the tag with the intent of trading.