Patriots Rocked With Brutal Free Agency Prediction

The New England Patriots may find themselves in a rough spot during NFL free agency.

Dec 28, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins (5) celebrates after making a touchdown pass reception against the Denver Broncos during the second quarter at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images / Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

Things really can't get much worse for the New England Patriots right now, can they?

The Patriots beat the Buffalo Bills in their season finale on Sunday, dropping New England from first to fourth in the NFL Draft order.

If that weren't enough of a bucket of ice water as it was, there is growing sentiment that the Pats' top free-agent target, wide receiver Tee Higgins, may stay with the Cincinnati Bengals.

In a piece where Michael Ginnitti of Spotrac predicts the fate of some key players heading into the NFL offseason, he projects Higgins to remain in Cincinnati on another franchise tag.

"The Bengals slap a 2nd franchise tag on Tee Higgins, which comes in at $26.18M for the 2025 season, setting up a holdout battle with the 25-year-old," Ginnitti wrote. "Higgins signs the tag before the start of the season, and the band gets back together one last time."

Considering that there really aren't any top-of-the-line receivers slated to hit the open market outside of Higgins and Chris Godwin, losing out on the former would be a massive blow for the Patriots.

New England has the worst group of wide receivers in the NFL at the moment and is clearly hoping to make a big splash in free agency thanks to having the most cap room in the league.

But remember: the Pats had expansive cap space last offseason too, and they ended up getting spurned by Calvin Ridley and settling for K.J. Osborn, who they released midseason.

You also have to wonder if Higgins would even really want to join the Patriots at this point given the fragile state of the franchise, which has now missed the playoffs four of the last five years.

It could ultimately be a very cold offseason in Foxborough.

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