Pros and cons of Cowboys trading first-round pick for Bengals’ Tee Higgins

If there’s one thing the Dallas Cowboys can learn from the Eagles, it’s doing everything possible to put their QB in the best position to succeed.

In the last two years, the Eagles used a top-10 pick on DeVonta Smith, and traded the No. 19 overall pick in the 2022 draft, and a third-round pick for Titans receiver AJ Brown. Both players cracked 1,000 yards (1,496 in Brown’s case), and caught a combined 183 passes for 18 touchdowns.

While the Cowboys have an ascending superstar at WR in CeeDee Lamb, they don’t have much else behind him.

With the free agent class offering next to nothing in terms of star receivers — unless the Chargers make Keenan Allen a cap casualty — executing a trade might be Dallas’ best path to equipping Dak Prescott with another legit weapon.

Bengals star Tee Higgins is an obvious trade candidate as he enters the final year of his rookie contract and Cincinnati needing to save money to pay Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase ungodly sums of money in the near future.

Let’s dive right into a pros and cons of a Higgins trade for Dallas.

Should the Cowboys trade for Bengals receiver Tee Higgins?

Pro: Cowboys desperately need another stud WR

It’s really as simple as this: Michael Gallup was a net negative in 2022 coming off ACL surgery, James Washington missed most of the year with a foot injury, Jalen Tolbert was inactive for most games as a rookie, and Noah Brown, though a bright spot for most of the season, struggled with drops.

It speaks volumes, TY Hilton was the Cowboys’ most reliable non-CeeDee Lamb receiver as a late-season signing. If Dallas is serious about contending for a Super Bowl, they’ll move heaven and earth to get Prescott another wideout.

Con: Tee Higgins deserves his money

It’s anyone’s guess what kind of money Higgins wants, but you seldom see teams pay multiple receivers top-dollar.

Lamb is cemented as a top-10 (potentially higher) receiver in the league, and will likely demand a floor of $25 million annually. Assuming Higgins wants something north of $20 million per year, the Cowboys will have roughly $60 million committed to the receiver position, and that doesn’t even include Gallup’s contract, which is virtually unmovable this offseason since he just signed a five-year deal in 2022.

Pro: Tee Higgins would be worth price of admission

Between the first-round pick it’ll take to acquire Higgins, and subsequently signing him to an extension, that’s a lot of resources Dallas would give up. The Cowboys historically have opted against offloading resources at such a high volume, but Higgins would take them from a playoff team to a Super Bowl contender.

In three seasons, Higgins has played in all but four regular season games. Durability isn’t a question with the former Clemson star. And his on-field production speaks for itself. He’s cracked 100 receptions in every season and has eclipsed 1,000 yards twice. The one time he didn’t he posted 908 yards. He’s caught 19 touchdowns in that span, too, and is as good as they come in contested-catch situations.

Assuming Dallas shores up its cornerback situation, acquiring Higgins would make them a (maybe the) Super Bowl favorite in 2023.

Con: Cowboys could simply draft a WR

Outside of Higgins needing a new-and-improved contract, the Cowboys could simply identify Lamb’s new running mate in the 2023 draft. Whether it’s Zay Flowers, Jordan Addison, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Nathan Dell, or Rashee Rice, Dallas will have no shortage of prospects to sift through before the draft.

You could counter by saying there’s no surefire stud in this year’s crop as a pro of trading for Higgins, but there’s a reason a large contingent of Cowboys fans want to see the team draft a prospect in the first or second round, and sign a free agent — perhaps Odell Beckham Jr. — to revamp the WR room instead of putting themselves in a financial bind by trading for another big-ticket wideout.

What do you think Cowboys fans. Do you endorse trading for Higgins? Or is it too big of an investment to even consider?

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