Bengals Receive Strong Message About Tee Higgins Trade

The Cincinnati Bengals and the rest of the NFL are fast-approaching the 2026 NFL Draft.

Cincy has made a ton of dramatic approvements to a defensive unit that badly needed it. They added former Vikings and Commanders defensive lineman Jonathan Allen near the beginning of free agency. The team also added safety Bryan Cook, as well as edge rusher Boye Mafe.

Still, the team has some work to do, as they’ve technically lost more bodies than they’ve signed via free agency. Consider a list of the defenders that the Bengals have lost so far in 2026.

• CB Cam Taylor-Britt (Colts)
• CB Marco Wilson (Dolphins)
• S Geno Stone (Bills)
• DE Trey Hendrickson (Ravens)
• DE Joseph Ossai (Jets)

Amid the losses, PFF has named the team’s most valuable trade asset ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft.

Bengals Receive Strong Take About WR Tee Higgins

Pro Football Focus recently released a list of who they believe is the most valuable asset of every NFL franchise. For the Bengals, it was WR Tee Higgins.

“While Joe Burrow may not be thrilled, the Bengals need to address their defense to better complement their top-tier offense. Higgins brings reliability and big-play ability, even with some injury concerns, and his contract structure offers cap flexibility for both sides.

He has shown flashes of true No. 1 receiver ability but is arguably the league’s best No. 2, instantly elevating any passing attack. Moving Higgins would allow Cincinnati to reshape its receiver room while acquiring valuable draft capital or defensive help.

His proven chemistry with an elite quarterback in a high-volume passing offense makes him a highly valuable trade asset.”

Should the Bengals trade away Higgins, they could receive legitimate draft capital to further solidify a defense. It’s hard to say how Joe Burrow would react to one of his best playmakers being cast away, but he could be sold on trading him to fortify a defense that has kept them from having more legitimate Super Bowl opportunities.

Cincinnati Likely Awaiting Joe Flacco Decision

Even though Cincy did sign QB Josh Johnson in free agency, room remains in the QB room behind Joe Burrow.

The angle comes from The Athletic‘s Paul Dehner Jr.

“When the Bengals signed 14-team NFL legend Josh Johnson (for the third time) on Saturday, it sent a clear message about their approach to backing up Burrow: They plan on waiting for Joe Flacco.

Flacco stated he wants to find a job where he can compete to start. He’s also said that if he can’t find that, he’d be interested in returning to Cincinnati, where he posted some of the best individual games of his storied career.”

A once-mentioned landing spot for Flacco was the Atlanta Falcons. Atlanta was in need of a starting QB at the time with the late-season injury to Michael Penix Jr. The Flacco tie to Kevin Stefanski made it only make more sense. Of course, since then, the Falcons have signed QB Tua Tagovailoa.

With an injury-riddled QB, the Bengals probably know that they can’t rely on a QB room consisting of Johnson and Clifford behind him. It may be breaking their way, as most starting QB gigs in the NFL have all been taken.

Brevan Bane Brevan Bane is a sports scribe covering the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Minnesota Vikings and Cincinnati Bengals. Brevan began his writing career by making a platform on Twitter and leveraging his presence into writing and content creation opportunities for outlets like PurplePTSD, Vikings Territory, The Noise, Hockey Wilderness, and the VikesNow YouTube channel. You can follow him on X @brevmanbane. More about Brevan Bane