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Is the Tee Higgins door inching back open for Carolina Panthers?

Do the Carolina Panthers have a chance of landing Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins after all?

Matthew Schmidt

Dec 23, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins (5) warms up with tennis balls before the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Dec 23, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins (5) warms up with tennis balls before the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
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The Carolina Panthers have many holes they need to patch this offseason, and while fixing a defense that was the worst statistical unit in NFL history this past year should be a priority, so should finding some weapons for Bryce Young.

The recent salary cap spike (if you can call it that) has given the Panthers a bit more wiggle room in free agency and could allow them to actually splurge on a wide receiver if they really want to.

Obviously, the top target has always been Tee Higgins, who is clearly the most notable wide out on what is rather thin free-agent market in terms of top-tier talent.

However, it had been looking more and more like the Cincinnati Bengals were going to retain Higgins, as the consensus was that the Bengals would slap a franchise tag on the 26-year-old and then sign him to a long-term deal.

But apparently, there is some trepidation as to whether or not Cincinnati will be able to agree to a multi-year pact with Higgins, which could open the door for a tag-and-trade.

"Just talking to people around the league, these are not people in Cincinnati, but the gist is, I’ll believe it when I see it," reported Phil Perry of NBC Sports on whether or not the Bengals will keep Higgins.

Now, this does not necessarily mean that Higgins will be available. Cincinnati could tag him and hold onto him for one more year. And the Bengals still could ultimately find away to keep him long term. No one really knows for sure what is going on right now.

But it does provide Carolina with a glimmer of hope.

Of course, Higgins has to actually want to join the Panthers, too. He can easily turn down any potential move to Carolina, which is entirely plausible given that the Panthers went just 5-12 this past season and have not made the playoffs the last seven years.

But maybe there is a chance Higgins would be intrigued by the idea of playing with Young, especially if the Panthers come forth with a gigantic offer that he would have a hard time refusing.

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Matthew Schmidt
MATTHEW SCHMIDT

Matthew Schmidt is a sportswriter who covers NFL, MLB, NBA and some college. He has been writing professionally since 2011 and has also worked for Bleacher Report, FanRag Sports, ClutchPoints, NFLAnalysis.Net and NBAAnalysis.net. He was born and raised in New Jersey and has a rather eclectic group of favorite teams: the Boston Celtics, New York Giants and Miami Marlins.

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