At the bye week, the Cincinnati Bengals sit on the cusp of becoming a complete team.
The trade deadline looms large, too.
Maybe the Bengals become that complete Super Bowl contender by standing pat with what they have and continuing to get better around Joe Burrow.
But again, that trade deadline looks appealing.
Yes, the Bengals don’t usually make big moves, if any, near the deadline. But this might be the year to change that because there is good value out there on the market that could dramatically boost entire units.
With the deadline looming at the end of the month, here’s a quick look at some areas the Bengals might want to target on the trade block.
Tight end
It’s just not working with Irv Smith Jr. so far. He’s played in four games due to injury as expected, considering he hasn’t played a full season since 2019. He’s caught six of his 11 targets for 32 yards. Practice squad member Tanner Hudson has played in two games and Drew Sample has three catches for 10 yards.
While the offense doesn’t use tight end all that much, one has to wonder if it might — and be better for it — if there was a Hayden Hurst-style weapon out there still. Sacrificing even a mid-round pick to level up the offense, especially with Tee Higgins ineffective and nursing the rib injury, might be a good idea.
Guard
We can play the what if he improves as the season goes along? game all year with Cordell Volson, but he’s been the obvious weak point on the line. Most of the interior has struggled at times, but he’s not taking that expected leap. If a selling team out there wants to dump a proven veteran they can plug in, it might be better than trying to get Cody Ford or Max Scharping in there.
Edge
Similar story here. Joseph Ossai isn’t playing meaningful snaps yet after that preseason injury and that has left Trey Hendrickson all alone as the only productive pass-rusher on the team. It’s impossible to state just how important it is to have quality rotational rushers who can come in and really collapse pockets. Coughing up an asset to take some of the load off Hendrickson might be ideal, especially considering he was already juggling a back injury over the first six games, the same issue as last year.
Defensive tackle
The Bengals aren’t getting anything behind B.J. Hill and DJ Reader. Josh Tupou is still a nice backup in the right scenarios when healthy, but opposing offenses are starting to exploit whenever Zach Carter is on the field. If the rare interior pressure creator becomes available at an affordable cost, it’s pretty much a no-brainer of an addition because again, the team can’t go 17 games with its current pass-rush production.
Running back
It’s not working behind Joe Mixon either. He’s carried the ball 96 times on a 3.8 average and caught 16 passes. With Samaje Perine gone, Trayveon Williams, Chris Evans and rookie Chase Brown have done little to nothing. It’s to the point where we’ve already went long while advocating for a trade that brings Perine back to town.
Cornerback
Maybe this is more of a waiver wire thing, but the depth is looking a little concerning at cornerback. Cam Taylor-Britt and DJ Turner look very encouraging as the long-term duo and Mike Hilton is fine out there, of course. But Chidobe Awuzie just played hardly any snaps against Seattle while coming back from a back injury. Jalen Davis got notably torched when he played recently and DJ Ivey was a seventh-rounder who isn’t ready. Allan George and Sidney Jones on the practice squad might not be better than a guy they could bring in for cheap via trade on the chance the corner room suffers further injuries.
Final thoughts
A trade isn’t necessary. But the Bengals have a relatively early bye week here and the season is longer than ever, especially for a team that has postseason ambitions long into the winter. So reinforcing corner by being proactive only makes sense. Maybe linebacker too, considering Akeem Davis-Gaither still isn’t ready and the guy they claimed on waivers from Dallas, Devin Harper, is also hurt now, too.
At some point, the front office will need to get over the hesitation to spend future assets to win right now and this might just be that point to push things over the proverbial edge.
