Nothing tops a college reunion, right? Catching up with your old friends and reliving those memories again is something we all look forward to. But you know what’s better than just having a chit-chat with your college mate? Scoring touchdowns. Coming out of the tunnel, hopping on the gridiron, getting into a huddle, what more can you ever expect from a reunion? That’s why former Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence has sent a message to his former Clemson teammate Tee Higgins, whose future in Cincinnati still looks bleak, at least in the long run.

With Tee Higgins set to hit free agency, Up & Adams talk show host Kay Adams asked Lawrence to deliver his best pitch to bring Higgins into Jacksonville. And what Lawrence did was use the emotional card to urge Higgins into deserting Burrow, “Obviously, I’m sure. He’s got a relationship with Joe. If everything goes well, I’m sure he wouldn’t want to leave. But if that wasn’t the case. I think I definitely would be up next as far as Tee and our relationship and what we’ve done in the past.” See, for two years, Higgins and Lawrence regularly connected for the Clemson. They played 30 games in which Higgins caught 118 catches from Lawrence for 2,103 yards. Higgins also scored 25 TDs while notching over 2,000 receiving yards in each of his two seasons with Lawrence as his QB.

But the last time they two suited together was in 2020. And since then, Higgins has found his home in Cincinnati. Picked by the Bengals as their 33rd overall pick, Higgins has kept on impressing with Joe Burrow as his QB. His best seasons came in 2021 and 2022, when Higgins caught over 70 catches and surpassed 1000 receiving yards. However, since then, injuries have somewhat curtailed Higgins’ numbers for the Who Dey Nation. For two straight seasons, Higgins played only 12 games while dealing with multiple injuries, with his hamstring being a constant issue.

However, bringing Higgins to Duval is never going to be an easy task. The Jags only have $32M in cap space, ranking 17th in the NFL. So, they would need some insane cap space maneuvering to even think about landing Higgins. And there’s also the Bengals, who have already started to get things moving to keep Higgins in Cincinnati. There are reports coming out that the Bengals are slowly etching towards giving another franchise tag to their former second-round receiver.

Tee Higgins is projected to stay in the Jungle with Joe Burrow as his QB

Just a few days ago, Mike Sando of The Athletic revealed, “Burrow is putting the hammer on them,” referring to the Bengals front office. He reportedly doesn’t want to entertain the idea of losing two of his best receivers, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. See, Chase is already coming off a triple crown year, leading the league in receptions (127), receiving yards (1,708), and TDs (17). And it looks very likely Chase will soon land the biggest contract a wide receiver has ever received in the NFL. If not in the Bengals, then probably some other team would surely crown Chase with the money he deserves. Now, there’s Higgins, who is still playing on a franchise tag.

But today, Sports Illustrated’s James Rapien has since confirmed, “Higgins camp expects to get tagged at this point. He would be the top free agent of he were to make it to free agency. That isn’t expected to happen. The Bengals will tag Higgins by the March 4 deadline.” This means Higgins will get a 120% hike on his salary because of an NFL rule for a player getting a franchise tag in consecutive seasons. It also means no team, even the Jaguars, can trade for Higgins until they are too audacious.

They would have to give up at least two first-round picks and a price tag north of $100M. And that’s not something any team would really consider doing for someone who has been a bit injury-prone in the last two seasons. As for now, only time will tell what’s gonna truly happen. Because this drama is far from over until there’s concrete news comes up from the Jungle itself.