have an interesting offseason coming up, especially in regards to their star wide receiver duo.

Waiting to pay Ja’Marr Chase his expectedly historic contract appears to be the wrong move for Cincinnati as they will likely have to pay even more given his ridiculous season thus far.

Meanwhile, Tee Higgins is playing on the $21.8 million franchise tag and even though he’s been productive on the field, it’s difficult to automatically assume the Bengals will find enough cap space to keep both on the roster.

With the season having just passed the halfway point, the future of Higgins in Cincinnati seems to be growing more unlikely with each passing day.

According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, it would be a “major surprise” if the two sides came together on an agreement in free agency next offseason.

“There’s little to no chance Higgins is in Cincinnati beyond 2024. People I’ve talked to feel pretty strongly about that, barring a major surprise. A second franchise tag would cost the Bengals around $26.2 million on a one-year rental. Higgins wanted out of Cincinnati last offseason, and the Bengals will likely allocate resources for a Chase contract. Higgins will have a strong market because of the number of receiver-needy teams and Higgins’ WR1 traits,” Fowler wrote.

Despite his injury history, Higgins should have a robust market. He will be 26 years old entering the 2025 season, and he’s shown flashes of dominance throughout his career.

Unfortunately for Higgins, his hasn’t been the best contract year. He missed the first two games of the season due to a hamstring injury he suffered in practice just before Week 1. Then, he returned for five games before suffering a quad injury in practice, which has forced him to miss the last three games.

It should be an interesting offseason between the Bengals and Higgins, but it seems unlikely the pair will be together beyond 2024.