AFC Notes: Tee Higgins, Geno Stone, Najee Harris, Bengals, Ravens, Steelers

Bengals

Bengals Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin explained why the team quickly put the franchise tag on WR Tee Higgins.

“We want him on the roster,” Tobin said, via Bengals Wire. “As soon as we got the salary-cap numbers, there was no point lingering on this.”

Bengals HC Zac Taylor added that the team wasn’t prepared to let Higgins walk out of the door in 2024.

“He’s one of the top receivers in this league, and we don’t want that just walking out of the building. So when you’ve got an opportunity to put a tag on him and keep him in the building and let him play at least another season for us, I think that’s critical,” Taylor said.

Ravens

Ravens GM Eric DeCosta proclaimed that DB Geno Stone might be the best seventh-round pick in the history of the team’s franchise.

“Well, Geno [Stone] … I’m very proud of Geno,” DeCosta said, via Ravens Wire. “He was a seventh-round pick and probably – if [ESPN reporter] Jamison [Hensley] was here, he’d probably chime in, because he’s a historian, or he fancies himself a historian … Geno might be the best seventh-round pick that we’ve ever had – playmaker, attitude, special teams. [He had] just an excellent season [in 2023]. He has been cut, been brought back. Just, I love his cerebral nature, [and] I love his attitude on the field. He fancies himself an overachiever; I love that about him. He’s put himself in an awesome position. We’re fortunate that we have some good safety depth, and I’m not really sure exactly what that means for Geno and the Ravens, but regardless, I know he’s going to be a great pro. If he doesn’t come back and play with us, he’s going to be a great player for somebody else, and I would expect him to have a great career.”

Steelers

After all the decisions that impact their 2024 roster construction, the biggest situation the Steelers will deal with this offseason pertains to RB Najee Harris. Pittsburgh has to decide this summer whether they will pick up Harris’ fifth-year option, which would cost the Steelers $6.79 million in 2025.

“We have until the first week in May to make a decision,” Steelers GM Omar Khan said, via Josh Carney of SteelersDepot.com. “We have a new offensive coordinator, so that’s gonna play into the decision-making process. We’re having conversations with Arthur. It’s been great. We’ve been engaging frequently — coach Tomlin and Arthur and I — we’ve kind of been talking about the offense and what the vision is for it. And we think very highly of Najee and we’ll make the decision before May 2.”