The Bengals have a new draft subplot hanging over the 2027 NFL Draft, and it starts with a pick that may end up being more valuable as currency than as a player.
Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Seattle are projected to receive a third-round compensatory selection next year, setting up a late-Day 2 decision that could carry a lot more attention than usual. The Bengals’ spot could land at No. 97, 98 or 99 overall, and after the franchise’s recent misstep involving a trade that would have brought in Philadelphia edge rusher Arnold Ebiketie, that pick is suddenly part of a much bigger conversation.
Some around the league see the bungled situation as the kind of mistake that should cost people jobs. Others point out that nothing is guaranteed and that the trade deadline never tells the full story. Either way, the fallout has pushed Cincinnati’s compensatory-pick history into the spotlight.
That history is not especially encouraging.
Since 2004, the Bengals have collected 32 compensatory picks, and only seven of them have come in the third round: Landon Johnson in 2004, Andre Caldwell in 2008, Chase Coffman in 2009, Brandon Ghee in 2010, Brandon Thompson in 2012, Paul Dawson in 2015 and McKinnley Jackson in 2024.
Of that group, Caldwell stands out as the most productive, spending his first four seasons in Cincinnati before finishing an eight-year career in Denver. Jackson, meanwhile, is the latest example of a pick that has not yet changed the conversation along the defensive line, where the Bengals have already been forced into an offseason overhaul.
That’s why the 2027 selection feels so important, even if the embarrassment that created the buzz will likely fade by April. The national attention, though, probably won’t. This is the Bengals, after all.
There’s also another layer here: the pick may not stay put.
Teams have been allowed to trade compensatory picks since 2017, and Cincinnati has already been involved in four such deals. The Bengals moved compensatory picks in 2017 and 2019, and in 2018 they acquired a third-round comp pick to draft linebacker Malik Jefferson. Jefferson does not count among the Bengals’ original third-round comp picks because the selection was not initially awarded to Cincinnati.
Last season offered another reminder that these picks can be moved quickly. Three of the four compensatory selections were traded, with the Eagles, Steelers and Lions all dealing away extra third-rounders.
So the Bengals could use the 2027 pick to move up, or they could package it for a veteran who helps fill one of the 20 spots currently occupied by impending unrestricted free agents, including eight starters. Or they could simply make another third-round bet and hope this one lands better than the ones that came before it.
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Orlando Brown Jr. Knows This Bengals-Steelers Game Feels Different
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Brown framed it as more than just another date on the schedule, pointing to how much the game means to the players and the fans who follow them. For Cincinnati, the focus starts up front, where the offensive line has to give Joe Burrow the kind of protection and rhythm that can hold up in a game with this much weight behind it. [Read more 🡒]