The Cincinnati Bengals are trading a key wide receiver to the Pittsburgh Steelers in an insane 2024 trade.

I wouldn’t blame you for doing a double-take after reading that. After all, the Cincinnati Bengals are not buddies with any of the AFC North teams. Even though Baltimore has improved in recent years as a result of Most Valuable Player Lamar Jackson’s regular season success, the Bengals’ main division foe has to be the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have suffered a string of disastrous postseason failures over the last two decades. There is no love lost between these two excellent franchises.

Cincinnati Bengals questioned about trading Tee Higgins to a major rival.

Despite a longtime enmity between the two clubs, the city of Pittsburgh has considered dealing for Cincinnati’s best wide receiver Tee Higgins. Cincinnati is in severe trouble with Higgins after announcing that he would be assigned the franchise tag this summer. While it locks in the Clemson product’s pay at $21.8 million, it does not offer him with a long-term contract.

Following the announcement, Higgins requested a trade from the team and expressed his concerns on social media. The obvious solution would be to transfer him to the New England Patriots or the New York Giants, allowing Higgins to fulfill his dream of becoming a number one wide receiver while simultaneously keeping him out of Cincinnati’s crosshairs.

Let’s take a look at the situation in Pittsburgh now that the team has brought in renowned quarterback Russell Wilson to help turn things around on offense. Furthermore, the team traded Diontae Johnson to the Carolina Panthers, leaving them without a world-class wide receiver to partner with quality option George Pickens. Looking at the circumstances on paper, Higgins appears to be an ideal candidate to play in Pittsburgh next season.

Okay, now that we’ve discussed the logic behind the decision, let’s get back to reality. Never in a million years would Cincinnati consider trading Higgins to a bitter rival. Following the existing bad blood between the groups, it would be a complete public relations disaster. The rivalry may have entered a dormant era following Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement in 2022, but Cincinnati providing an up-and-coming organization with the final push to become a legitimate contender would be a shot in the foot unlike anything in franchise history.

While it appears to be a fantastic decision on paper, neither group has the audacity to suggest such a swap. The loser of this transaction would be ridiculed for the next ten years, and the general manager who eventually lost it would be unable to find work for the foreseeable future. While it may be entertaining for Pittsburgh fans to imagine, there is simply no chance that it will ever happen.

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