This offseason, only Kansas City Chiefs OL Trey Smith and Cincinnati Bengals WR Tee Higgins were tagged by their teams.
This marks the fewest players tagged in a year since 1994, per ESPN.
What does that mean for their futures?
“We want Tee around here not just next year but in the future,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said at the NFL combine. “Tee’s been a big part of all the wins we’ve had and keeping defenses accountable.”
Whether or not the Bengals will keep him together with MVP-caliber quarterback Joe Burrow and triple crown-winning receiver Ja’Marr Chase, however, is very much in question, mostly thanks to the team itself. Cincinnati failed to reach a contract extension agreement with Chase last summer, and the price has only gone up. Higgins has now received the franchise tag two years in a row, and while reports suggest the Bengals plan to negotiate a longer-term deal with him this time, they also are notorious for tightening purse strings relative to other franchises.
Smith’s future, meanwhile, still seems to be in Kansas City, with multiple reports indicating the Chiefs want him long-term, especially given their offensive line issues. He received the non-exclusive tag, which means he’s free to negotiate with other teams, but the Chiefs also have the right to match any offer sheet he receives. So it might just have been a way of gauging his market in negotiations.