Pros and cons of Cardinals pulling off a trade for Tee Higgins

The Arizona Cardinals hold the fourth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and the consensus appears to be that Arizona will spent that pick on Marvin Harrison Jr. This would bolster their wide receiver room and give Kyler Murray a lethal weapon to throw to.

Why stop there though? A Redditor recently floated the idea of the Cardinals swinging for the fences and acquiring Tee Higgins in a trade. Higgins has spent the entirety of his four-year career with the Cincinnati Bengals and has had over 1,000 yards two times during that span. He was slapped with the franchise tag this offseason and Higgins requested a trade.

Now, there's been nothing connecting the Cardinals to a potential Tee Higgins trade and the commenters in that Reddit thread weren't entirely onboard with the idea but it's the offseason, right? Let's look at what the pros and cons would be if the Cardinals decided to try and trade for Higgins.

Pro: Higgins is a talented wide receiver

The Bengals spent a second-round pick on Higgins in 2020 and right away, he showed that he was a WR1-caliber weapon. In 2021 and 2022, Higgins went over the 1,000-yard mark despite having to share targets with Ja'Marr Chase and Tyler Boyd.

Con: Asking price and ensuing extension

Not only would the Cardinals have to ship either a first-rounder or a second-rounder to acquire Higgins, they'd then have to pay him an expensive extension to keep him in the desert long-term. According to Over the Cap, Tyreek Hill is the highest-paid wide receiver annually, earning $30 million. Higgins wouldn't necessarily get that but he'd likely end up as one of the highest-paid receivers, so it'd cost the Cardinals a pretty penny to keep him long-term.

Pro: Murray would have 2 top WRs

A quarterback is only as good as the talent surrounding him so why not try to surround Kyler Murray with two legitimate wide receiver threats? One would be Marvin Harrison Jr., who the Cardinals have been linked to with the fourth pick in a lot of mock drafts, and the other could be Higgins. Tee Higgins is used to sharing the spotlight when it comes to star receivers, having split targets with Ja'Marr Chase during three of his four seasons so this wouldn't be a new thing for him. He knows how to share targets and Murray could benefit from having both of these guys to throw to.

Con: Higgins couldn't stay healthy in 2023

Higgins is coming off the worst season of his career and injuries were to blame. He missed five games during the 2023 season due to a rib injury and then later on a hamstring injury. Draft Sharks has flagged Higgins as a very high injury risk for the 2024 season, which would be another reason to steer clear of trying to make a big trade for him.

Again, just so we're clear, there haven't been any reports linking the Arizona Cardinals to Tee Higgins but the draft is still several weeks away so why not have some fun and speculate on things like this? If the Cardinals were to trade for Higgins, they'd be adding another WR1-caliber weapon for Kyler Murray. He did struggle to stay healthy last year, however, and would be an expensive acquisition.