If you read that and you had to double-take, I wouldn’t blame you.  After all, the Cincinnati Bengals certainly aren’t friendly with any of the teams within the AFC North.  Even though Baltimore has stepped it up over recent years due to the regular season success of Most Valuable Player Lamar Jackson, the Bengals’ biggest rival within the division has to be the Pittsburgh Steelers after a series of colossal playoff meltdowns over the past twenty years.  There is certainly no love lost between these two quality franchises.

Cincinnati Bengals Questioned About Trading Tee Higgins to Huge Rival

Even after a longstanding feud between the two organizations, the city of Pittsburgh actually has entertained the notion of trading for Cincinnati elite wide receiver Tee Higgins.  Cincinnati is in dire straits with Higgins after they announced that they would be slapping him with the franchise tag this offseason.  While it locks the Clemson product in at a 21.8 million dollar salary, it also does nothing to provide him with a long-term contract.

Following the announcement, Higgins requested a trade from the organization and has been vocal on social media regarding his unease with the situation.  The obvious choice would be to send him to either the New England Patriots or the New York Giants so that Higgins gets his wish of being a number one wide receiver but also keeps him out of Cincinnati’s crosshairs.

Now let’s take a look at the situation in Pittsburgh after the team brought in legendary quarterback Russell Wilson to right the ship on the offensive side of the ball.  On top of that, the team traded away headcase Diontae Johnson to the Carolina Panthers and therefore fail to possess a world-class wide receiver to pair with quality option George Pickens.  If you look at the situation on paper, it looks like Higgins would be a perfect fit to play in the Steel City next season.

Okay now that we’ve talked over the theory behind the decision, let’s return to reality.  Never in a million years would Cincinnati ever trade Higgins to a hated rival.  It would be an absolute public relations nightmare after the established bad blood between the organizations.  The rivalry may have entered a dormant stage following the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger in 2022 but for Cincinnati to provide an up-and-coming franchise with the final push to become a true contender would be a shot in the foot unlike anything in franchise history.

While it may look like a great decision on paper, neither organization has the audacity to propose such a trade.  The loser of this trade would be laughed at for the next ten years and the general manager who ultimately lost it would be unable to land a job for the foreseeable future.  While it may be fun for Pittsburgh fans to imagine, there is simply no possibility that it ever happens.