New mock draft has Bengals making blockbuster Tee Higgins trade

This would be quite the move.

Tee Higgins and the Cincinnati Bengals failed to come to a deal before free agency, forcing the Bengals to apply the franchise tag to keep him in stripes.

From there, Higgins requested a trade so he could try to head to a different team that would be happy to pay him.

No such trade has come through, but the latest NFL Mock Draft from Ian Cummings of Pro Football Network has the Bengals trading him not for a pick straight up but for a move up the board to draft his replacement.

In the trade, the Bengals traded Higgins to the New York Giants for the sixth-overall pick to take wide receiver Rome Odunze from Washington. The exact details of the trade are the Bengals giving up Tee, the 18th pick, and their 2025 second-rounder.

This move could make some sense for the Bengals. The wide receiver class drops off after the top three, so if they are going to trade Tee, moving up for a possible replacement makes a lot of sense. In this scenario, they took Odunze over Malik Nabers, but either player should be able to step in as WR2 in year one.

Long term, having a cheap, extremely talented wide receiver to pair with Ja’Marr Chase on his second deal could be very beneficial.

For the Giants, this would be a sign of belief in Daniel Jones, as the move would take them out of the range of the top quarterbacks while simultaneously getting them the proven WR1 that Jones has never had in the NFL.

Between two teams where one needs to get cheaper at wide receiver and needs a long-term replacement and another team that needs the proven option and should be willing to pay for it, the trade makes sense.

However, the Bengals typically only make trades they feel like they’re winning. Pick No. 18, Tee, and a 2025 second-rounder is probably more than they would give up. The idea of a trade involving Tee that gets the Bengals into range for Malik Nabers or Rome Odunze is very tempting, as it could allow the Bengals to improve over Tee while getting a replacement under team control for at least five years.

What do you think of this proposed trade?