The Cincinnati Bengals have already made a major effort to reshape a defensive front that struggled last season, and that work has put one of their young linemen into trade conversation before training camp even opens.
After adding Dexter Lawrence II and Jonathan Allen at defensive tackle in free agency, and then drafting Navy defensive tackle Landon Robinson, Cincinnati suddenly has more bodies than obvious jobs along the interior. That’s why Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton floated a mock deal that would send Kris Jenkins Jr. to the Las Vegas Raiders for a late 2027 NFL Draft pick.
Moton pointed to the Raiders’ need at nose tackle as part of the fit, writing, "In a transition to an odd-man front, the Raiders entered the offseason with a need at nose tackle. Yet they didn't invest premium draft capital or sign a premier free agent to fill the position.
At 32, Adam Butler is the front-runner for that role," Moton wrote. "The Raiders can add a young interior defender to develop as a future starting nose tackle.
They should make a call for Jenkins, who may be buried on the Cincinnati Bengals depth chart after the team signed Jonathan Allen and acquired Dexter Lawrence II from the New York Giants.
"In his 2024 rookie campaign, Jenkins showed some flashes, recording 31 tackles (three for loss) and three sacks. Still only 24, the third-year pro has room for growth if he sees the field in a decent role."
That’s the crux of it for Cincinnati: Jenkins has talent, but his path to snaps looks crowded. At this point, he projects more as a third- or fourth-string option than a locked-in piece of the rotation. That isn’t a bad place for a depth lineman to be, but if the Bengals can turn that into a useful draft asset, it becomes a real conversation.
Much of it may come down to what Cincinnati thinks of Robinson. He’s undersized, but he brings a high motor, and if the Bengals believe he can handle Jenkins’ rotational workload, moving the 24-year-old would start to make plenty of sense.
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