Keep Tee Trade Chase

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

The time to trade Higgins was before the 2023 draft when your return would help you now. The next time to trade Higgins is before the 2024 draft (tag and trade). Still too much talent on the team to make it worse now in exchange for future help.

I think the division is out of the question, but there's the bullshit 7th seed nowadays. The Dolphins made the playoffs at 9-8 last year, which will be hard for the Bengals because not only are they 0-2 in the division but also the AFC, which will hurt tie breakers (Steelers missed playoffs at 9-8).

Still, if they put Burrow on IR and go 1-3, that's 9-2 to finish the season with 10 wins, 8-3 if they go 2-2 without Burrow. That's not great odds, but it's still odds enough that you can't toss away 2023 for future years yet. They did go on an 8-0 streak to finish the regular season last year.

If you don't want a guaranteed playoff spot at 10-7 and instead feel like gambling with tie breakers, 2 of the 4 teams that went 9-8 last year made the playoffs because of the weak 7th seed, and that's 8-4 even if they go 1-3 without Burrow, so it's not over yet even if Burrow goes on IR.