The Patriots have fallen short in several wide receiver pursuits this year, missing out on two players who were selected in the first round of this year’s draft – Xavier Worthy and Xavier Legette – and failing to complete a trade for 49ers wideout Brandon Aiyuk despite an aggressive pitch. Armed with a talented young QB in Drake Maye and a great deal of cap space, New England could certainly renew its efforts to land a top-flight pass catcher in 2025.
Enter the Bengals’ Tee Higgins, who is playing out the current season on the franchise tag and who has long been expected to hit the open market in March 2025. Indeed, Mike Giardi of the Boston Sports Journal says the Pats will be “heavily involved” in the Higgins sweepstakes if the Clemson product should become available.
While many of the reasons underlying the expectation that Higgins will hit free agency are still present – including, for instance, the mega-deal that the Bengals are planning to authorize for fellow WR Ja’Marr Chase at some point – there have been several recent developments that could increase the odds that he will remain in Cincinnati. Quarterback Joe Burrow has expressed his confidence that the club will do what it can to keep its enviable 1-2 receiver tandem intact, and Higgins’ recent change in representation could also be viewed as a sign that he hopes to stay in the Queen City.
It will nonetheless be difficult for the Bengals to keep both Chase and Higgins in the fold, so there is still a good chance that Higgins will defect to another club in a few months’ time (assuming Cincinnati does not deploy a second franchise tag, which could be cost-prohibitive). With a league-leading ~$131MM in projected cap room, money would be no object for the Patriots.
As Giardi observes, however, Higgins may not want to take his talents to Foxborough. Although Maye has shown promise, he is far from a proven commodity at this point, and under the stewardship of offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, the Patriots rank near the bottom of the league in terms of both total offense and points per game. The club added two receivers in this year’s draft in Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker, but neither player has made an impact on a unit that generally lacks high-end talent.
More draft picks, a possible OC change, and more free agent dollars invested in the offense could of course lead to improved output, and Higgins would certainly be a key piece of such a turnaround. On the other hand, he should have a number of suitors, and it is fair to wonder if New England will represent his ideal landing spot, especially since he will presumably not have a player of Chase’s caliber to draw the attention of opposing defenses.
Following a dominant performance in a must-win game against the Broncos last night, Higgins has posted career-highs in terms of yards per game (78.0) and touchdowns (10). Despite missing five games due to injury in 2024, he is also approaching career-best marks in targets and receptions.