Packer Central

Tee Higgins Won’t Become Packers’ No. 1 Receiver

Do the Green Bay Packers need a No. 1 receiver? Perhaps. It just won’t be Cincinnati Bengals star Tee Higgins.

Bill Huber

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins catches a pass against De'Vondre Campbell during a game vs. the Packers in 2021.
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins catches a pass against De'Vondre Campbell during a game vs. the Packers in 2021. / Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – Cincinnati Bengals star Tee Higgins will not be the Green Bay Packers’ No. 1 receiver in 2025.

According to Bengals On SI’s James Rapien, the Bengals intend to use the franchise tag on Higgins for a second consecutive year, this time with the intention of signing him to a contract extension.

The franchise-tag window will open on Tuesday.

The Packers will be looking to add a high-profile receiver this offseason after their young receiver corps failed to take a step forward in 2024 and with Christian Watson set to miss about half the season with a torn ACL.

Higgins was scheduled to be by far the best receiver available in free agency and perhaps the best player overall. The 6-foot-4 playmaker, who scored six touchdowns in the final six games of the season, could have been a difference-maker for a Green Bay offense that struggled in the search for high-level consistency in 2024.

While quarterback Jordan Love believes in the team’s receivers, who he grew alongside during his two seasons as a starter, he also was in favor of adding any player that could make a good offense even better.

“Tee’s a phenomenal player,” Love told ESPN at the Super Bowl. “If you add a really good player to a really good offense, I think the sky’s the limit. You can take it in pretty cool places.”

At the Super Bowl, Higgins called Cincinnati a “second home” because of his relationship with the fans.

“Obviously, I would love to be here. I love it here, I love the city, I love the fans, I love the coaching staff, everything in the building, but it’s not in my control,” Higgins told Joe Danneman of Fox 19 in Cincinnati. 

A second-round pick in 2020 – the Packers drafted Love instead of Higgins – Higgins has 330 receptions for 4,595 yards and 34 touchdowns in five seasons. He had back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in 2022, a down season in 2023 and a rebound season of 73 receptions for 911 yards and a career-high 10 touchdowns in 2024.

Higgins played a lead role in the Bengals’ late-season run that fell just short of a playoff berth. In his first game back in the lineup after an injury, the Bengals lost 44-38. They won their next five games to end the season. Overall, they went 8-4 when he was in the lineup and 1-4 when he was out of action.

In the four games the Bengals lost when Higgins played, they scored at least 33 points in three games and 27 in the fourth.

“That last little stretch, I did what I needed to do and it helped me out and I feel like I proved my worth,” he said.

Based on the team’s red-hot finish to the 2023 season, the Packers felt great about their receiver corps headed into 2024, which is why general manager Brian Gutekunst’s only additions at the position were undrafted free agents.

However, Watson missed Week 17 against the Vikings with a knee injury, suffered a torn ACL in Week 18 against the Bears and was out for the playoff game against the Eagles. The Packers lost all three of those games.

Meanwhile, Romeo Doubs was suspended for one game and suffered two concussions, and second-year players Dontayvion Wicks and Jayden Reed had the second- and third-highest drop percentages in the NFL.

So, do the Packers need a true No. 1 receiver to take the offense to the next level?

“I would say it just depends on the situation,” coach Matt LaFleur said at the end of the season. “I’m sorry, I know you want a better answer than that. I think our collection of receivers is pretty darn good. I think we’ve got six guys we definitely feel like we can lean on. Do you want a guy that can catch a slant and take it to the house? …

“But I love the group. I think they work their tail off. I do think there’s a lot more out there for them. We’ve got to be more consistent. We’ve got to make sure when given those opportunities we come down with that football.”

If Higgins is off the list, where would the Packers turn? Former Packers receiver Davante Adams, whose time with the Jets almost certainly is over following their decision to release Aaron Rodgers next month, might jump to the top of the list if the goal is to add a difference-making veteran.

Higgins, who missed five games each of the last two seasons, the Buccaneers’ Chris Godwin, who is coming off a significant ankle injury, aging Amari Cooper and Stefon Diggs, who is coming off a torn ACL, are the best available in free agency.

The Bengals tagged Higgins in 2024. Doing so again would mean a guaranteed 2025 salary of about $26.2 million. The tag, however, would only be a place-holder toward the type of long-range deal that quarterback Joe Burrow has been pushing management to make.

“Tee is a need, yes,” Burrow said in December. “I know that I'm gonna do what it takes to get him back, and so is he. We've had those talks. Those are gonna be offseason discussions, but we're excited about that opportunity.”

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.