Could Sam Hubbard become a cap casualty?

If the Bengals are serious about paying Tee Higgins, there may be some difficult decisions to make.

Joe Burrow wants Tee Higgins back, and we all know what that means: the Cincinnati Bengals’ front office will very much try to make it happen.

But with a Ja’Marr Chase extension looming, there’s only so much cap room available for Higgins.

That means, to keep the dynamic trio on offense together, there must be some difficult decisions made.

One idea that was proposed by Gridiron Heroic’s Timothy McBride is cutting fan favorite Sam Hubbard.

The defensive end is the hometown kid who sets the tone with his effort, stuffs the run, throws in some pass pressure, and will forever be remembered for his iconic “Rumble in the Jungle” that swung last year’s Wildcard Round game against the Baltimore Ravens in the Bengals’ favor.

Still, releasing Hubbard this year would only result in a $4 million dead cap hit but save Cincinnati about $8 million in 2024 and 2025. That would create a lot of space for Higgins to get his deal.

One thing McBride uses to support this idea is the fact that rookie defensive end Myles Murphy had a promising rookie year, making Hubbard somewhat expendable.

So should they do it?