Higgins completed 200 first-team appearances for Queen of the South after playing against Dumbarton on 1 October 2016. Higgins presentation was conducted before the home match with Linfield in the 2016-17 Scottish Challenge Cup on 9 October 2016 that Queens won 2–0 after extra time. Higgins lost the club captaincy after the arrival of John Rankin on 5 January 2017 from Falkirk, as decided by the recently appointed Queens manager, Gary Naysmith. Higgins contract at Queens wasn't renewed during May 2017, so he was released after six seasons, four and a half of those as the club captain.