Over the last two years, the Patriots have been on a hunt to add a high caliber wide receiver for their quarterbacks to work with. It would actually be fair to say they've been looking for a clear WR1 for much longer than that, even before Julian Edelman chose to retire after the 2020 season.
That has connected them to several top names over the years, including Brandon Aiyuk, Tee Higgins and Deebo Samuel.
Their pursuit of Aiyuk via trade last year was a promising development for a historically cheap franchise, as they made an offer it seemed he would have a difficult time to refuse. It was reportedly higher than the eventual extension he received from the 49ers, but the uncertainty at quarterback deterred him from wanting to be moved to New England.
The team has been connected to Samuel since he was drafted, but mostly not for good reason. Bill Belichick's decision to pass on him in the 2019 Draft for N'Keal Harry will live in infamy and continue to haunt the Patriots to this day. He is now off the table for a trade as he was just shipped to the Commanders.
So that puts Higgins front and center again this year, which isn't a great position to be in considering the Bengals hope to retain him. They're making the moves to hopefully do that, with the latest release to create cap space being the newest lousy news for the Patriots.
The #Bengals have released veteran G Alex Cappa, who had a $10.2M cap number.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 3, 2025
The Bengals creating more cap space isn't the only unfortunate update for the Patriots pursuit of Tee Higgins
On top of creating more cap space to presumably be able to afford a massive Higgins extension, the wide receiver announced on his Twitter/X on Monday afternoon that he would be franchise tagged ahead of next week's free agency.
It was then confirmed by NFL insider Ian Rapoport, who further detailed Cincinnati's desire to keep Higgins on the team long-term, essentially removing the Patriots from the conversation completely until if/when the Bengals' negotiations fall short.
The #Bengals have, in fact, franchise tagged WR Tee Higgins a second time, per @teehiggins5.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 3, 2025
No surprise, as Cincy is not in the business of letting good players walk away. They’ll hope to do a long-term deal after the more than $26M tag. pic.twitter.com/XW56WgiW6a
Related: Perfect Tee Higgins replacement named as possible trade target for Patriots
Although they have essentially been expecting this update for the past few weeks, it's not what the Patriots were hoping for, as Higgins was their primary free agent target at the position.
It was just reported at the NFL Combine that he was going to be their biggest pursuit when free agency begins next week, which will now force them to move onto other options instead, none of which are as compelling as a Drake Maye/Tee Higgins duo.
However, there is still plenty of time for things to change, as we saw with Higgins last season. He was hoping to get an extension done last season, which didn't happen, and led to him demanding a trade twice in the offseason. The Bengals didn't budge and they've made it clear they want to keep him around.
But if they can't agree on a contract this time around, it's fair to assume they'll want to trade him for some sort of compensation than watch him walk next year or deal with any potential distraction in 2025.
It provides the smallest sliver of hope for the Patriots, who hope to add a solid WR1 to the roster. Otherwise, they'll have to look at their other options or hope they can snag one of the top prospects in next month's draft.