Tyler Higbee should feel extra motivation heading into contract year

Tyler Higbee will be entering his fourth season with the Los Angeles Rams in 2019.

During the NFL Draft in 2016, the Los Angeles Rams were able to take advantage of Tyler Higbee slipping to the fourth round after the tight end’s stock dipped a bit due to some issues off the field at Western Kentucky.

At the time, there were some slight concerns over whether Higbee would be able to stay out of trouble after he was arrested in the weeks leading up to the draft, but luckily things have worked out quite well for the tight end with the Rams.

Not to mention, Higbee has also seemed to benefit from a head coach with a speciality in working with tight ends in Sean McVay, and should be in for another solid season in 2019.

Speaking of the 2019 season, this happens to be the final year of Higbee’s four-year contract signed as a rookie three years ago, meaning the Rams tight end will need to prove himself worthy of a new deal over these next few months.

Training camp certainly isn’t going to completely determine what to expect from Higbee during the actual season once September rolls around, but with the way he’s looked so far, Los Angeles should be excited over what could be in store.

Higbee may not be the kind of tight end who posts up big numbers in the passing game on a consistent basis, but also part of that reason is due to all the other weapons Jared Goff is fortunate enough to work with at receiver.

Since Goff arguably has one of the league’s top wide-receiver trios in Brandin Cooks, Robert Woods, and Cooper Kupp, this makes it easy to see why Higbee only has 49 catches over the last two seasons.

But one of the best things about having a tight end like Higbee is how the tight end can throw off opponents from time to time when Goff does in fact decide to use him in the passing game.

Only time will tell when it comes to determining whether Higbee has a future with the Rams beyond the 2019 season, but at least this being the final year of his contract will hopefully provide some extra motivation.

Concerns were there early on for Higbee when he first came to the NFL, but the tight end hopefully realizes just how special of a team McVay has put together with the Rams.

Because if Higbee were smart, he would realize the importance of doing whatever it takes to convince the Rams he’s worthy of being around for the long run while keeping the offense in better shape during the process.