The Bengals had a chance to make noise at the trade deadline. Instead, they came away empty.
That was the reality by Tuesday, even after Zac Taylor’s simple description of the day: “stayed pat.” The words sounded calm.
The outcome told a different story. Cincinnati did agree to a deal that would have brought Arnold Ebikete to town, but the move fell apart in embarrassing fashion, and that misfire became the headline.
It didn’t have to be that way. The Bengals still had time to add help to a roster loaded with high-end talent and built around Joe Burrow, who is playing at an MVP level.
Dexter Lawrence is in position to make a real run at Defensive Player of the Year. Tee Higgins is playing the best ball of his career.
Ja’Marr Chase is the best receiver on the planet.
That’s the part that makes the quiet deadline sting. Cincinnati has enough talent to make a real run at a Super Bowl, which only sharpened the question of why the front office didn’t do more.
Around the AFC, the contenders were busy. The Bills, widely viewed as the top team in the conference, didn’t stand still. They added the player who intercepted three of Burrow’s passes in Week 8, landing Amani Hooker, a safety who gives Buffalo a real playmaker on the back end.
Kansas City made a move too, giving Patrick Mahomes another target with Josh Downs headed to the Chiefs. The slot receiver has a chance to make a major impact the rest of the way, and the Bengals will see him when they face Kansas City in December.
Jacksonville also jumped into the action on Monday, making three trades, including a deal for Jessie Bates that would have been the kind of costly-but-worth-it move Cincinnati could have considered. Bates was a great player for the Bengals, got even better in Atlanta, and would have fit as a plug-and-play piece in the back end of the defense.
Denver wasn’t quiet either. The Broncos didn’t add another weapon for Bo Nix, but they did address one of the Bengals’ biggest weaknesses by trading with the Chargers for linebacker Daiyan Henley.
That was the theme of the deadline for Cincinnati’s competition: fill a need, get better, keep moving. The Bengals, meanwhile, missed on Ebiketie after botching the compensatory pick implications and never followed it with another move.
Never count out Joe Burrow or Ja’Marr Chase, but Cincinnati did not improve on Tuesday. Its biggest rivals did.
In Other News...
Bengals Edge Pursuit Collapsed Over A Cost Fans Never Saw Coming
The Bengals spent part of their edge-rusher search trying to work out a deal for Arnold Ebiketie, but the path to getting him from Philadelphia never got close to simple. Cincinnati was willing to send a 2027 sixth-round pick, yet the real issue was not the price on the trade itself. It was the draft capital the club could have put at risk down the road, a complication that turned a relatively modest swap into a much bigger decision for the front office.
Ebiketies status with the Eagles created the kind of compensatory-pick wrinkle teams spend months trying to avoid, and the Bengals ultimately decided the cost was too steep. As a result, Cincinnati will not land Ebiketie and is unlikely to chase any player who came off the board as a compensatory free agent this offseason. For a team still looking to strengthen its pass rush, it is another reminder that roster-building is not always about what a player costs today, but what he might cost later. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Defense Has A Demetrius Knight Problem Al Golden Must Solve
With the NFL trade deadline approaching, the Bengals are weighing more than just whether to add help on defense. The bigger question may be whether Al Golden can get more out of the pieces already in place, or whether Cincinnati needs to look outside the building for a fix. That leaves the defense at a crossroads, with the front office, coaching staff and current roster all part of the same conversation.
At the center of it is Demetrius Knight Jr., whose early stretch has been uneven enough to force a closer look at how he is being used. His issues in run support and coverage have stood out, but the Bengals also see a player who can affect the pocket in the right situations. If Golden is going to squeeze more production out of this unit, the answer may lie in a system tweak that better fits Knight and the rest of the linebacking group rather than waiting for a deadline move to solve everything. [Read more 🡒]
Dexter Lawrence Just Added To Bengals Fans Joe Burrow Hype
Dexter Lawrence has wasted little time settling in with the Bengals since arriving from the Giants in April, and he has already found a way to add to the buzz around Joe Burrow. The three-time Pro Bowler has been openly complimentary of Burrow, saying he respects what the quarterback has done and wants to see him keep pushing the offense forward.
For Cincinnati fans, it is another reminder that Burrows strong play is not just carrying the team through its recent winning stretch, it is also earning the admiration of accomplished players around him. Lawrences message has been simple and confident, matching the tone around a quarterback who has looked every bit like the centerpiece of the Bengals season. [Read more 🡒]