Well, this is an easy one.

Usually when there’s smoke around trade talks around draft time, there’s a few different fires. Now, with various national reports (more so speculation) that the Patriots are still looking at making a trade for a No. 1 receiver, Tee Higgins is the obvious big target.

Higgins is now one of just two players that were franchise tagged that have not signed. Higgins requested a trade a while back and with the Patriots holding the No. 34 pick (No. 2 in the 2nd round) this should be an easy decision for both sides.

If you’re the Bengals and you can ultimately only pay Ja’Marr Chase, receiving what amounts to a slightly later first rounder should be plenty to part ways with Higgins. The receiver class is so deep that Cincinnati should almost immediately be able to replace Higgins with an even younger, faster player.

This shouldn’t even be much of a discussion down at 1 Patriot Place.

Adding Higgins to a room with Kendrick Bourne, KJ Osborn, DeMario Douglas, Kayshon Boutte (?), Tyquan Thornton and Jalen Reagor suddenly makes it a much deeper group and doesn’t put the onus on Bourne or Osborn to produce ‘No. 1 numbers.’ You may be stuck with JuJu Smith Schuster too thanks to a $7 million base salary for the season, but it certainly would make the team far less dependent on getting anything out of him.

Higgins was in the league one year prior to Chase and caught 67 balls for 908 yards and six touchdowns. With Chase on the team each of the last three seasons, Higgins still caught 74, 74 and 42 balls, going over 1,000 yards in 2021 and 2022. Bringing in a proven player like Higgins would also alleviate some pressure for Jacoby Brissett or a rookie if the team genuinely believes it can contend for a playoff spot in 2024.

If you want to look at it from a business side, the Higgins and (insert QB name here) jerseys would fly off the shelves. The possibility of seeing a 70 or 80-yard touchdown on any given Sunday at Gillette would ensure the stadium doesn’t look the way it did at the end of last season.

This makes sense from every angle. Get it done and the buzz is immediately back.