Commanders pitched to sign Tee Higgins, the Bengals' situation could help Washington

The Washington Commanders might have a leg up over the Cincinnati Bengals in their pursuit of Tee Higgins.

Dec 28, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins (5) reacts after catching a first down pass in overtime against the Denver Broncos at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images / Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

The Washington Commanders are set for a big offseason. After being led by rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels to the NFC title game, the club is staring at a massive opportunity.

While Daniels is on his rookie contract, the Commanders can maximize having extra salary cap space by adding talent around the signal-caller and the rest of the squad to build a Super Bowl-contending roster.

Given their finish on the season, Washington has the building block needed to build a squad caliber of winning a championship next year. However, their approach to the offseason will be crucial to the club building a championship-caliber team.

One popular move the Commanders could make is signing Cincinnati Bengals star wide receiver Tee Higgins, who is set to hit the open market in free agency. CBS Sports' Jordan Dajani played free agency matchmaker and projected a move for the Commanders to sign the star receiver.

"The Commanders have plenty of work to do on the defensive side of the ball this offseason, but they also can't run it back with what they have at wide receiver," CBS Sports wrote. "Jayden Daniels needs someone other than Terry McLaurin to throw the ball to, and Tee Higgins is arguably the top free agent in this entire class. The 26-year-old caught a career-high 10 touchdowns this past season in just 12 games played."

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins (5) warms up before the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

This move comes as the Bengals will certainly struggle to retain Higgins. They've got to extend the contracts of Ja'Marr Chase and Trey Hendrickson, which will eat up plenty of their free salary cap space.

According to Bengals general manager Duke Tobin, retaining Higgins will be hard.

"It's going to be hard," Tobin said. "We feel like we have the resources to do it, but it all depends on how the negotiation goes and whether they're willing to accept wanting to come back at a number that makes sense for everybody. And you know what we do with Tee going forward, I've always been very upfront in my desire to have Tee Higgins on our team."

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