Cincinnati got a reminder at training camp that the running back room can get thin in a hurry.
During the latest practice, Samaje Perine slipped out of the backfield and took a heavy shot from Dexter Lawrence over the middle. The clip, shared by Local 12’s Yanni Tragellis, underscored the point: the Bengals’ backfield depth deserves a hard look.
Perine remains a solid RB2, but he’s also heading toward free agency. Chase Brown is entering a contract year, and there’s no guarantee those talks go smoothly or stay on track.
The Bengals have also shown in the past that personnel needs can linger until they become urgent. So if Cincinnati is going to think ahead, why not do it with a trade?
One name that stands out is San Francisco 49ers running back Isaac Guerendo.
At 6-foot-0 and 221 pounds, with 4.3 speed and 15 catches on 16 targets for 151 yards in the NFL so far, Guerendo looks like the kind of explosive runner who can change a room. He’s 26, he’s under a cheap rookie deal through 2027, and he’s already shown enough to look like a breakout waiting to happen.
The 49ers, though, are loaded at running back. Christian McCaffrey is the centerpiece, and San Francisco has also drafted Jordan James in the fifth round and Kaelon Black in the third over the last two years. That kind of crowding makes Guerendo the odd man out, especially after Kyle Shanahan pushed him into the doghouse last season.
It was a strange call, considering Guerendo ran for 420 yards as a rookie and averaged five yards per carry, while also adding that receiving production. Soft-tissue injuries have followed him, and he’s currently recovering from a pectoral injury suffered in offseason training, but the price to take a shot on him would still be modest: a sixth- or seventh-round pick.
That’s where the Bengals’ own history comes back into the conversation. A trade for Guerendo would echo the Khalil Herbert move from 2024, when Cincinnati sent a seventh-round pick to Chicago and got 36 touches out of him in eight games before Herbert bounced to three different teams in 2025. Herbert is now with the 49ers, which makes the whole thing feel even more fitting.
Guerendo’s speed is the real draw. A highlight from his Louisville days showed exactly why he turns heads, and his burst is the kind of trait that can separate him from the backs already in Cincinnati.
The Bengals are still building more under-center looks, but their offense is still defined by Joe Burrow spreading defenses out from shotgun. In that setup, running the ball is often more of a requirement than a centerpiece.
That’s why Guerendo makes sense. He could be the downhill complement to Chase Brown, giving the Bengals a back with a different gear and a different style. He’d also give them insurance if Brown’s contract situation ever turns messy, even if that doesn’t look likely right now.
There’s another wrinkle: Guerendo is on the PUP list and may miss the start of the regular season. For Cincinnati, that could actually help. A trade now would give him time to learn the offense, get comfortable, and come back ready to contribute later in the year.
For a team trying to cover every angle, that’s the kind of low-cost swing worth considering.
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Robinsons rise has been helped along by the kind of veteran backing that can make all the difference for a late-round rookie trying to carve out a job. He has credited coaching and support from experienced defensive players for helping him improve, and that matters now because the Bengals have a real roster decision forming around a player who is starting to look less like a camp body and more like someone worth keeping around. [Read more 🡒]