Bengals great TJ Houshmandzadeh is confident Tee Higgins will make a trade

Former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver TJ Houshmandzadeh is confident in this prediction that Tee Higgins isn’t going anywhere. Although Higgins is a potential name to watch at the NFL trade deadline On Tuesday afternoon, Houshmandzadeh believes there is little chance that the 25-year-old curator will be traded.

“Tee isn’t going anywhere,” Houshmandzadeh said in a one-on-one interview with ClutchPoints on behalf of his partnership with Tide. “If you’re the Bengals and Tee Higgins leaves, you’re going to get a compensatory pick in the third round anyway. Why would I trade him unless you give me a first or second round pick? I won’t trade him for anything less than that.’

“If a team comes up with something, maybe I can talk,” Houshmandzadeh continues. “And it sucks because the Bengals are still here. I think there’s probably less than a 5% chance of it being moved.”

The fifth-year receiver is currently playing on the franchise tag after failing to reach a long-term deal with the Bengals this offseason. While Higgins’ name has been linked to trade rumors, a recent report from Diana Russini of The Athletic indicates that the Bengals will not consider trade offers for their star receiver.

Higgins is one of the NFL’s top No. 2 receivers, posting back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons during the 2021 and 2022 campaigns. Besides Ja’Marr Chase, the Bengals have arguably the best receiving duo in the NFL. However, Cincinnati is in a bit of trouble considering both of them young star wide receivers are in the final year of their deals.

In other words, the Bengals are at risk of losing both star wideouts in free agency next season. A potential compensatory third-round draft pick for the loss of Higgins clearly doesn’t reflect his true value.

That said, the Bengals are 4-5 in playoff contention and face a big game on Thursday Night Football against their division rivals in the Baltimore Ravens. There’s no reason to think they’re sellers at the trade deadline, especially considering they’re just a game away from the final Wild Card spot in the AFC playoff race.

TJ Houshmandzadeh doesn’t expect ‘big’ player to be moved at NFL trade deadline

Houshmandzadeh — who played 11 years in the NFL and was a Pro Bowler in 2007 — doesn’t expect any major trades involving big players at the trade deadline. The former Pro Bowl wide receiver states that major trades are rare in the NFL at the deadline, especially compared to other sports like the NBA and MLB.

“There may be some transactions, but I don’t know if we’ll see a major player on the move,” Houshmandzadeh said. “I don’t think we’ll see that. The NFL is nothing like the NBA, where you see the big names moving – or even in baseball – sometimes you see the big names moving. NFL is a little more conservative in that regard. But I’d say there’s less than a 5% chance we see a big name, especially Tee Higgins, he’s not going anywhere.

Houshmandzadeh tailgates with Bengals fans during the Raiders win

While Houshmandzadeh played for four different teams, he is best known for his eight-year tenure with the Bengals. It was in Cincinnati where the 6-foot-4 receiver enjoyed his best years, including co-leading the NFL in receptions (112) during the 2007 season while posting 1,143 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns – both career highs .

The former longtime Bengals receiver partied with Bengals faithful during the team’s most recent home game, a 41-24 win over the Las Vegas Raiders last Sunday.

“When you play, you never really get a chance to hang out with the fans,” Houshmandzadeh said. “By working with Tide, they gave me the opportunity to be with the fans on a different level. It was fun. It was a completely different experience to see it from the other side.

“We did some rituals and activities, played some guys in a corn hole – hopefully not on the video – I smoked them, I won,” Houshmandzadeh continues. “We ate some chili, had a few accidents and my sweater got stains all over it. Tide made sure of that: no one cleans better than Tide. From that perspective we were good.”

The Bengals will look to keep the good times going when they visit the Ravens in Baltimore in Week 10. Cincinnati lost a 41-38 overtime heartbreaker to the Ravens earlier in Week 5.