They say Draft Season is Lying Season for a reason.
Nothing anyone says at the NFL Combine can be taken completely at face value, from the Bears saying they’re leaning toward trading the No. 1 pick to the Commanders saying Sam Howell is their QB1 coming into this season.
Cincinnati Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin knows that, and he also understands his team is potentially in a delicate situation with wide receiver Tee Higgins, who is entering the final year of his rookie contract with big money on his mind.
So he wasn’t about to give it up smooth when asked at the Combine podium Tuesday about the possibility of trading Higgins to a receiver-needy team.
“I’m not in the business of making other teams better. I’m in the business of making the Cincinnati Bengals better,” Tobin said at his Combine press conference. “And so, trading Tee Higgins is not on my mind.
“That’s their problem. They want a receiver, go find your own. In my opinion, Tee Higgins is a good piece for the Cincinnati Bengals, so the trade stuff is a little ridiculous right now.”
That sounds pretty definitive…until you remember the Tennessee Titans did the same thing with A.J. Brown last year.
As late as April last year, the Titans were reportedly not even entertaining trade calls on Brown, and Mike Vrabel went so far as to say Brown wouldn’t be on the trade block “as long as I’m the head coach.”
Well, Vrabel’s still the head coach of the Titans, and Brown is now an Eagle after a draft-day trade to Philadelphia and a new four-year, $100 million contract.
Tobin might as well have said, “Go find your own…unless you’re willing to pay up.”
Brown cost Philly a first-round pick and a fourth-rounder from 2022. Dealing for Higgins will cost something similar, plus the fresh paper.
This was always going to the case, though. Trading for an ascending young talent like Higgins isn’t a cheap venture, and the Bengals probably won’t do it unless they can go a first-round pick like the Titans did for Brown.
The Patriots have the No. 14 pick plus some excess picks later in the draft. Would they seriously package them up and send them to the Bengals for Higgins? Probably not. The next time they pay market value for a star wide receiver will be the first time.
The point is not to let the Bengals fool you. Higgins can be had for the right price, especially when you consider Cincinnati will have to pay Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase wild amounts of money soon.
Teams will just have to make it worth Cincy’s while, and that’s not really New England’s game.