CINCINNATI (AP) — For the first time in three years, Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins enters the season without his contract situation on his mind.
In 2023 and 2024, he wasn’t able to work out a contract extension with the Bengals leading up to the start of the season. He hit the free agent market in March, and then the Bengals front office finalized a four-year deal with Higgins.
“It means a lot,” Higgins said. “I appreciate the guys upstairs. I appreciate (owner) Mike Brown, (executive vice president) Katie Blackburn. The whole organization for believing in me and giving me another opportunity to play for this organization. It’s a blessing from God.”
With that level of security, he said that he’s able to approach 2025 and Sunday's opener at the Cleveland Browns with a different mentality.
“In previous years, it was betting on myself,” Higgins said. “Doing what I need to do to deserve a contract and things of that nature. Now, it’s putting my best foot forward to keep playing my best football to put our team in the best position to win and make it to the playoffs. Then when we make it to the big game, win it.”
In addition to Higgins, the Bengals signed a long-term deal with All-Pro receiver Ja’Marr Chase during the offseason. Chase’s four-year deal keeps the core of the Bengals offense together.
Quarterback Joe Burrow led the NFL in passing yards last season, and he has given a lot of credit to his two star receivers. Bengals captain Ted Karras, the team’s starting center, said that Chase and Higgins make up a big piece of the Bengals’ identity.
“Those guys deserve and have earned everything that they’ve gotten,” Karras said. “They showed up every day in the spring and every day in camp ready to go. They set an example for this team. They’re worth 30% of a billion between the two of them. That’s really special. That’s a great example for everyone for how to work, how to be a professional and how to produce.”
Coach Zac Taylor has said that he wants to build the Bengals offense around having an efficient completion percentage as well as an explosive element. Higgins’ ability to reel in catches on quick plays over the middle as well as deep catches down the sideline have resulted in critical plays for the Bengals since Higgins was drafted in 2020.
When defenses throw more coverage at Chase, Higgins has capitalized. And when defenses throw more coverage at Higgins, Chase has taken advantage.
“We want to put pressure on the defense,” Taylor said. “There’s no three better players that showcase that than (Burrow, Chase and Higgins). When they line up, all eyes are on them. When Tee and Ja’Marr are going through pregame warmups, everybody on the other sideline is looking at them. They’re watching Joe. You watch the other quarterback coaches, the coordinator, they are watching Joe throw the ball. We don’t take that for granted.”
Higgins said that at different points of last season, he wasn’t sure whether or not he was in the middle of his final year with the Bengals. He said that he made a point to take in the scene during the Bengals' final home game of 2024.
“Before that game, I knew that it could have been my last one,” Higgins said. “I wanted to go out with a bang. That was my plan going into the game. That whole week, I was like, I’ve got to go out with a bang. I’ve got to go out with a bang. Then I had my best game since I’ve been here.”
Higgins had 131 receiving yards as well as three touchdowns in that 30-24 win over the Broncos in Week 17 last season.
But after re-signing with the Bengals in March, he has many more games at Paycor Stadium ahead of him.
“I never want to take any moment for granted,” Higgins said. “You enjoy that time with your brothers.”
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Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins (5) talks to Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) during the second half of an NFL preseason football game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola, File)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranians could call abroad on mobile phones Tuesday for the first time since communications were halted during a crackdown on nationwide protests in which activists said at least 646 people have been killed.
Several people in Tehran were able to call The Associated Press and speak to a journalist there. The AP bureau in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was unable to call those numbers back. The witnesses said SMS text messaging still was down and that internet users in Iran could connect to government-approved websites locally but nothing abroad.
The witnesses gave a brief glimpse into life on the streets of the Iranian capital over the four and a half days of being cut off from the world. They described seeing a heavy security presence in central Tehran.
Anti-riot police officers, wearing helmets and body armor, carried batons, shields, shotguns and tear gas launchers. They stood watch at major intersections. Nearby, the witnesses saw members of the Revolutionary Guard's all-volunteer Basij force, who similarly carried firearms and batons. Security officials in plainclothes were visible in public spaces as well.
Several banks and government offices were burned during the unrest, they said. ATMs had been smashed and banks struggled to complete transactions without the internet, the witnesses added.
However, shops were open, though there was little foot traffic in the capital. Tehran's Grand Bazaar, where the demonstrations began Dec. 28, was to open Tuesday. However, a witness described speaking to multiple shopkeepers who said the security forces ordered them to reopen no matter what. Iranian state media had not acknowledged that order.
The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its crackdown.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking to the Qatar-funded satellite news network Al Jazeera in an interview aired Monday night, said he continued to communicate with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff.
The communication “continued before and after the protests and are still ongoing," Araghchi said. However, “Washington’s proposed ideas and threats against our country are incompatible.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Iran’s public rhetoric diverges from the private messaging the administration has received from Tehran in recent days.
“I think the president has an interest in exploring those messages,” Leavitt said. “However, with that said, the president has shown he’s unafraid to use military options if and when he deems necessary, and nobody knows that better than Iran.”
Meanwhile, pro-government demonstrators flooded the streets Monday in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, which appeared to number in the tens of thousands, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Others cried out, “Death to the enemies of God!” Iran’s attorney general has warned that anyone taking part in protests will be considered an “enemy of God,” a death-penalty charge.
Trump announced Monday that countries doing business with Iran will face 25% tariffs from the United States. Trump announced the tariffs in a social media posting, saying they would be “effective immediately.”
It was action against Iran for the protest crackdown from Trump, who believes exacting tariffs can be a useful tool in prodding friends and foes on the global stage to bend to his will.
Brazil, China, Russia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are among economies that do business with Tehran.
Trump said Sunday that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
Iran, through the country’s parliamentary speaker, warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if Washington uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,700 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the latest death toll early Tuesday. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 512 of the dead were protesters and 134 were security force members.
With the internet down in Iran, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government hasn’t offered overall casualty figures.
A picture of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is set alight by protesters outside the Iranian Embassy in London, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media shows protesters dancing and cheering around a bonfire as they take to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
FILE - Protesters march on a bridge in Tehran, Iran, on Dec. 29, 2025. (Fars News Agency via AP, File)
