Free agency is now just weeks away, with the New England Patriots and new head coach Mike Vrabel likely itching at the opportunity to improve a roster that certainly has some holes to fill.
While addressing the offensive line has to be among their top priorities, trying to come away with at least one quality wideout on offense has to be the other.
Cincinnati Bengals receiver Tee Higgins continues to be a name discussed when it comes to the Patriots. Jason La Canfora recently spoke with multiple NFL GMs about how they believe things might go this offseason, and one believes that the Bengals receiver is likely going to be wearing a Patriots uniform in 2025.
“I think he’s going to New England,” an NFL GM recently told La Canfora. “Patriots owner Robert Kraft “took a lot of s— for not spending any money, rightfully so, and I hear they really want this guy.”
The next question would be whether or not New England is where Higgins wants to go. The 26-year-old is expected to command around $30 million per season, which, given how we saw things play out with both Calvin Ridley and Brandon Aiyuk, the Patriots’ willingness to spend money certainly wasn’t an issue.
The bigger question is likely whether or not they can sell players on coming to Foxboro. Unlike last offseason, the landscape is significantly different. Last March, the club had new head coach Jerod Mayo, who no one outside of this region had any familiarity with. They had Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe as the only two quarterbacks on their roster. They had no tight ends on the roster, with both Hunter Henry and Pharoah Brown both at the end of their respective deals.
As a result, they had a lot of questions and even more uncertainty. Clearly, the majority of the big names in last year’s free agent class opted to take their talents elsewhere. Despite a couple of big swings, no one was willing to be the first big name to be the answer New England was hoping for.
Patriots Likely to Have Competition For Higgins
However, even if they pursue the Bengals receiver, the Patriots are likely going to have some competition. Having come up short during the postseason, some of that competition could come from several teams who were eliminated as the Eagles went on to win last Sunday. The Buffalo Bills could be a team that steps into the mix, with ESPN’s Kimberly Martin saying recently she believes the Chiefs should target Higgins this offseason.
The Chiefs acquired DeAndre Hopkins from Tennessee in October, but the veteran wideout looked like a player who just didn’t have it in the showdown with Philadelphia. His future heading into the offseason is in question, and should tight end Travis Kelce retire (the Chiefs have already reportedly given him a March deadline to make a decision), Kansas City will have some urgency to explore the market and would likely love to have a talented young player like Higgins on its roster.
Meanwhile, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated also said recently that Buffalo could also be interested.
“I wouldn’t rule out the idea of the Buffalo Bills pursuing Tee Higgins,” wrote Breer in his mailbag this week when asked about what it would take for the Bills to ‘get over their Chiefs hurdle.’ “Now, I’d bet there would be limits on how far they’d go, but adding a real No. 1, assuming you project Higgins to be that away from Ja’Marr Chase, would allow for you to slot guys such as Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman, James Cook and Dalton Kincaid into roles that would make the group, as a whole, a real problem.”
That mirrors what Breer said earlier this month, where he mentioned that if the Bills go after him, it’s going to be a challenge for the Patriots to convince Higgins to choose Foxboro over Western New York.
“I still don’t like Tee Higgins to come here. I don’t,” said Breer. “Here’s the thing. They offered [Brandon] Aiyuk a better deal than Pittsburgh did. They offered Aiyuk a better deal than Cleveland did. If I remember right, again, I don’t have it in front of me, I know we talked about this before, but I think it was $32 million per on a four-year deal or he had a choice, or $30 million per year on It was a three-year deal.”
“He would rather go to Pittsburgh where the number was something like… It was a tick less than T.J. Watt because they wanted to keep him under T.J. Watt. It was like something like $27.8 or something like that. When you start to get up into that neighborhood, guys are going to… You have to way overspend to convince a guy not to like, ‘I’m going to take a little bit less and go contend.’ Buffalo has got some flexibility cap-wise now. If they go and make a competitive offer for Tee Higgins, why wouldn’t he go there?”
In the meantime, betting odds have Denver as the favorite to land him, followed by Washington, Pittsburgh, and the Chargers as the other teams who could be in play this offseason. As a result, the Patriots will absolutely have their work cut out for them.
Higgins and Patriots Still a Better Long-Term Fit
Still, in New England, it feels like this would be the best long-term fit. For Higgins, he’s immediately the best player in the offense, which is something that he hasn’t been playing alongside J’Marr Chase, and he’s also got a terrific chance to be productive.
Pairing him with someone like Drake Maye, the two would potentially be able to grow together under offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who will likely have a field day coming up with plays with him in the mix. Looking at what someone like Jakobi Meyers, who was the club’s last real productive wideout, managed to do over multiple seasons, Higgins is a far more dynamic player and would certainly match or even put up better numbers.
After all, even as “bad” as last season was, Demario Douglas (66 catches, 621 yards 3TDs) and Kayshon Boutte (43 catches, 589 yards 3 TDs) each put up surprising stats, with the majority of their totals coming once Maye took over at quarterback. Adding Higgins to this group adds an explosive piece that’s been lacking. His presence alone would change how defenses approach them, potentially freeing up guys even further and allowing the offense as a whole to really start clicking.
It’s also a chance for Higgins to get a lot of targets and potentially be the player who gets the credit for getting a team like New England back in contention. Players certainly want to get paid, but they also want to have fun and be productive. With someone like Maye, that opportunity absolutely exists here.
Coming off an offseason where they came up short, there’s likely some added motivation for Robert Kraft not to see a repeat of last offseason. Adding someone like Higgins would instantly change the landscape of this offense, and it will be interesting to see if having Vrabel, Maye, and McDaniels on board moves the needle this time around.
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The Interesting thing to me is how would Higgins do as a #1 where today he gets a lot of single coverage given Jamar Chase clearly takes the coverage focus. So is Higgins capable of playing the Jamar Chase #1 role, or is he a smidge over-rated given his situation in CIN? I see he runs a myriad of routes and is quick enough, and runs and catches with size/power. Seems like you motion to outspend and go for it. He’s way better than any of the old cast-off diva club-house-cancer types like Hopkins or Diggs. Way better than Aiyuk.… Read more »