Tee Higgins

Higgins finished an injury-plagued 2023 with career lows in nearly every major receiving category, missing five games and playing less than 70 percent of snaps in four others. He's in high demand this offseason all the same, with Cincinnati giving the 25-year-old a franchise tag for $21.8 million and then holding firm against a trade request. Reports in late March suggest the Bengals are at least willing to listen to offers -- though they won't actively shop Higgins -- perhaps opening the door for a deal if a receiver-needy team like New England or Carolina is willing to overpay. The Bengals' stance is understandable given that Higgins averaged 71.7 catches for 1,009 yards and 6.3 TDs over 15.3 games in his first three seasons after entering the league as a second-round pick. He was also highly productive at Clemson, where he had 2,103 yards and 25 TD catches between his age-19 and age-20 seasons. While not especially fast (4.54 40 at his pro day), Higgins is one of the league's bigger receivers (6-4, 216) and one of the best at winning jump balls downfield. He's also quite useful on short and intermediate routes, though his target rate dropped to around 20 percent of routes the past two years with Ja'Marr Chase gobbling up a huge share of the short passes. Higgins drew targets on 23.4 percent of routes in 2021 when Chase was deployed more as a deep threat, finishing with a still-career-high 110 targets despite missing three games. While other players drafted in the same range offer more volume upside, Higgins has never produced less than 8.4 YPT in a season and should best last year's mark of 8.6 if he and QB Joe Burrow both manage to stay relatively healthy. Read Past Outlooks