Patriots fans wallowed in misery Saturday afternoon, but those frowns might have turned upside down by the evening.
Hours after New England was completely embarrassed by the Los Angeles Chargers at Gillette Stadium, the Bengals and the Broncos battled in one of the best games of the NFL season to date. The high-stakes Week 17 clash traveled deep into overtime and ended via a Joe Burrow-Tee Higgins connection with a minute and change left in the extra frame.
It marked the third touchdown of the game by Higgins, who led all pass-catchers with 11 receptions and 131 yards. And the supremely clutch performance surely had Patriots fans dreaming about the future in Foxboro, Mass. Higgins is an impending free agent and would address a longstanding New England need with flying colors.
But Patriots fans should reckon with this reality now before they allow themselves to be consumed by fantasy: Higgins is not going to take his talents to New England.
Why would he? Sure, the Patriots appear to have a star quarterback in the making with Drake Maye and New England will have more cap space than any other franchise this offseason. But it feels highly unlikely that those selling points will be enough for Higgins to set up shop at One Patriot Place.
For starters, the Bengals should do everything they can to make sure the star wide receiver doesn’t leave Cincinnati. He’s been outstanding since he joined the franchise in 2020 and Burrow is the best version of himself when both Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase are in his arsenal. But even if Higgins does cut ties with the Bengals — a scenario he acknowledged after Saturday’s thriller — he should have several better options than the Patriots.
Let’s look at some of the other teams inside the top 10 of projected salary cap space, per Spotrac. The Washington Commanders, Minnesota Vikings, Los Angeles Chargers, Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers all will have over $65 million to spend this offseason. If any of those teams were interested in Higgins and made a similar offer to the Patriots, the decision would feel like a no-brainer. Even with Maye behind center, New England’s future looks very bleak.
Now, the Patriots could pivot toward optimism with a few big changes in the coming months. Bringing in a new coaching staff and shuffling the front office potentially could make New England more appealing to players around the league. But as it stands, the Patriots have very little to offer relative to their competitors.
New England undoubtedly should make a run at Higgins in a few months. He arguably will be the best receiver available on the market. But don’t kid yourself, Patriots fans. A talent of that caliber shouldn’t have any interest in New England as currently constructed.
