Franchise-tagged wide receiver Tee Higgins now looks forward to playing for Bengals

April 15 (UPI) -- Franchise-tagged wide receiver Tee Higgins, who requested a trade earlier this off-season, now says he is looking forward to playing for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2024.

"We'll see," Higgins told reporters, when asked if he will stay with the Bengals in 2024. "I do anticipate it. I've grown a love for Cincinnati that I didn't think I would. "I'm looking forward to it."

Higgins made the comments to reporters while at his youth football camp Sunday in Loveland, Ohio. The Bengals designated Higgins as their franchise tag player in February, keeping him under contractual control for at least one more season.

Higgins, a second-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, would make $21.8 million under the terms of the franchise tag. He will then hit free agency next off-season, unless he can agree to terms on a long-term pact with the Bengals, gets traded or is again given a franchise tag designation.

Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn told reporters in March that the team hoped to keep Higgins and fellow wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase under contract, with quarterback Joe Burrow, but the pacts would need to be adjusted for salary cap implications.

Burrow, who signed a $275 million deal in 2023, is under contract through 2029. Chase, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, is playing on the final year of his rookie contract. He has a $21.8 million fifth-year option for 2025 as part of that deal.

"We like these guys," Blackburn said. "We have to work within the salary cap. So we have to figure out what that will mean, and how it can all stay together. That's just what we have to work on and see where it takes us."

Blackburn's comments came after Burrow said he expected to play with Higgins again in 2024. Director of player personnel Duke Tobin also said in February that the Bengals want to keep Higgins on their roster.

"He is a good player," Tobin said. "We want to keep him and we have resources to do that. ... We like Tee. We are a better team with Tee."

Higgins, 25, eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards in 2021 and 2022. He totaled 656 yards and five scores on 42 catches in 12 games last season, when he missed four games because of hamstring and rib injuries.