Stefon Diggs made his pitch over the weekend, and in doing so, he ended up underscoring something the Cincinnati Bengals have understood about Tee Higgins for a while now.
Diggs, still unsigned as training camps draw near after putting up 85 catches for 1,013 yards and four touchdowns with the New England Patriots last season, took to his YouTube channel to make his case to NFL teams. His message was simple: he believes he can still line up with anyone.
"My opinion, I can compete with anybody,” Diggs said. “But take those [top wide receivers] as your ones, right? You can’t name a No. 2 better than me...
“There’s not a No. 2 on a team-let’s presumably give people the credit and just say, ‘OK, you want to take the No. 1 spot away.' Name your No. 2 receiver right now, and tell me how much he makes, and then my last question is: Is he better than me?”
If Diggs is looking for a name, Higgins would be an easy one to point to. But that’s also where the label starts to break down.
Yes, Ja'Marr Chase is Cincinnati’s clear No. 1 and one of the premier players in the league, which puts Higgins second on the depth chart. But that spot says more about the Bengals’ talent than it does about Higgins’ value.
Higgins backed that up last season, catching 59 passes for 846 yards and a career-high 11 touchdowns in 15 games. His 11 scores led the AFC, tied for second in the NFL, and helped him land a Pro Bowl selection.
Diggs also pushed the conversation into money, asking what a team’s No. 2 receiver should really be paid. Cincinnati already answered that question last offseason, giving Higgins a four-year, $115 million deal worth an average of $28.75 million per year.
That’s not the kind of contract teams hand out to a standard complementary receiver.
Diggs can call himself the NFL’s best WR2 if he wants. The point is that Higgins doesn’t really belong in that bucket. He’s Cincinnati’s 1B, not a true WR2, and Diggs’ comments only made that clearer.
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