Here's Why Tee Higgins Officially Changed His Number Ahead of the 2023 Season

The 24-year-old will wear No. 5 this season.

CINCINNATI — Tee Higgins officially changed his number from 85 to 5 on Wednesday when the Bengals made the announcement on social media. 

That was followed by plenty of questions on social media. 

Why make the change now? Is it because a contract extension is coming? Are the Bengals going to retire the No. 85 in honor of Chad Johnson and Isaac Curtis? 

The answer is much simpler than that, although he is eligible for an extension and could sign one at any time. 

Higgins made the decision to change his number prior to the 2021 season, but he missed the deadline for the 2022 campaign. 

The fourth-year wide receiver would've had to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars buying out the NFL's supply of Higgins No. 85 jerseys to wear the No. 5 in 2022. 

Rather than spend the money to get the number he wanted, he waited to make the switch. 

"That [money] could go toward a new Rolls Royce or a house in Texas," Higgins said last June. 

It's worth noting that the NFL didn't allow wide receivers to wear single-digit numbers until the 2021 season. Higgins might've went with his college number (No. 5) as a rookie, but he wasn't allowed to due to league rules. 

He made the decision and discussed it publicly on Sept. 16, 2021. 

"I'm going back to five," Higgins said at the time. "It's not that big of a deal, but I just felt like Chad (Johnson) has done so much for this organization and I just got a good feeling that his number is gonna get lifted one day and I just want to make a name for myself. I keep seeing on Twitter 'Ochocinco 2.0.' I don't want to be a 2.0. No disrespect to Chad, he's a great receiver, I just don't want to be a 2.0 for myself. I want to be a Tee Higgins 1.0, No. 5. Just go out there and make a name for myself for this organization."

It's wild to think about how much has changed since he decided to change his number. 

The Bengals have won five playoff games, made back-to-back AFC Championship Games and Higgins has topped the 1,000-yard receiving mark in each of those two seasons. 

He's hoping to have even more success in his new No. 5 this season. 

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