Chiefs WR Pegged as Potential Tee Higgins Replacement for Bengals

The Kansas City Chiefs will have several decisions to make at wide receiver over the 2025 offseason and they have the next couple of months to form final opinions on impending free agents Hollywood Brown, DeAndre Hopkins, Justin Watson, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman.

The latter name on that list was just placed on the injured reserve, while Brown appears to be nearing a return. That’s important, considering the 2024 signing has yet to appear in a regular season game for Kansas City.

Most assume that Brown and the Chiefs will most likely part ways after his one-year, $7 million deal went bust. But KC brought in the big play threat for a reason, and it’s not out of the realm of possibility that they offer him another one-year contract in the spring.

Having said that, there will be competition for Brown, and Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine believes the AFC rival Cincinnati Bengals make sense as a potential landing spot if star wide receiver Tee Higgins walks for a big money offer.

“The Bengals only gave Tee Higgins the franchise tag this offseason,” Balentine reasoned on December 9. “His value to the offense has been apparent this season, but it still feels unlikely that they’ll be able to sign him to a long-term deal [and] depending on a rookie to take over his duties might be a little too risky.”

“Signing a veteran for slightly cheaper than what they would have to pay Higgins is an option worth considering,” the writer continued. “Marquise Brown doesn’t have the same body type, but he does have the deep speed to stretch secondaries vertically and play a similar role to Higgins.”

Bengals Have Targeted Chiefs Free Agents in the Past

If the Bengals poached Hollywood Brown in free agency, it wouldn’t be the first time Cincy targeted one of Kansas City’s players on the open market. The Bengals offered left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. a four-year, $64.092 million contract after the 2022-23 Super Bowl, and the key piece accepted it gladly.

Of course, Chiefs fans will likely point out that KC won another championship without Orlando Brown the following season while Cincinnati missed the playoffs. That’s true, but it’s also true that the organization has had a lot of trouble finding an adequate replacement for the blindside blocker to this day.

Losing Hollywood Brown would be less impactful, no doubt, but it’s never any fun to see a promising talent join a bitter rival.

Raiders Also Pushed to Pursue Chiefs WR Hollywood Brown in 2025

Although Cincy was his most recent suggestion for Hollywood Brown, Ballentine also pushed the AFC West rival Las Vegas Raiders to pursue the wideout on December 2.

Similar to a Bengals team losing Higgins, Brown would make a lot of sense as a buy-low playmaker with Las Vegas.

“There’s a strong likelihood that the Raiders will be breaking in a new quarterback next season,” Balentine wrote ahead of Week 14. “If they continue to lose, they should be looking at the top quarterbacks in the draft. Assuming they are starting a rookie next year, they will need the best weapons they can get.”

“Marquise Brown is likely to be an under-the-radar free agent next season,” the Bleacher Report analyst went on. “He’s proven himself as a solid No. 2 option in an offense.”

Outside of current WR1 Jakobi Meyers — who is currently still under contract until 2026 — the Raiders have very few big names at wide receiver. A Brown signing would change that, adding star power and upside while also potentially weakening the Chiefs.

At the time, Ballentine concluded by noting that Brown will “have the final stretch of games and the postseason to earn a new contract.”

“If he does that, he would be a good deep threat for whoever is at quarterback for the Raiders next season,” he added confidently. Although, the same could still be said about Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.