Agree with them or not, the Cincinnati Bengals appear determined to usher in a youth movement to the front seven of their defense. The embattled unit exited Week 7 victorious, but still ranks 31st in yards and points allowed per game.
Cincinnati's defensive struggles stem in part from an ineffective offense that looked brutal whilst quarterbacked by Jake Browning. Now that Joe Flacco has arrived and given the Bengals hope, perhaps there's a chance the defense can turn things around.
But a series of puzzling coaching decisions are making the linebacker corps far worse in the short term, with the presumed payoff of reps for rookies Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter.
That initiative is coming at the expense of one of Cincinnati's franchise cornerstones.
Bengals LB Logan Wilson could be gone by NFL trade deadline
Over the last two games, Cincinnati has shoehorned Carter into the green dot role in favor of veteran captain Logan Wilson. For better or worse, that appears to be the play by the Bengals coaching staff.
Mind you, Wilson is still performing at a higher level than Carter and Knight for that matter. It's a weird situation that Wilson has handled with the utmost class and professionalism.
"I can look back at this time of adversity and be able to tell my kids how to work through adversity like this."
— Caleb Noe (@CalebNoeTV) October 14, 2025
The Bengals are starting rookie Barrett Carter at LB, over veteran Logan Wilson.
Logan said he put his arm around Carter & said:
"There's gonna be no hard feelings… pic.twitter.com/pA7g7Op9UB
If the trade for Flacco really did signal optimism that Joe Burrow can come back this season, it's odd at best as to why Cincinnati isn't playing its best 11 players on defense. While it's still very early for Carter and Knight, they're hurting the Bengals more than they're helping right now.
Not only is Wilson still a functional starter and one of the preeminent leaders of the locker room, but Oren Burks is also on the roster.
On a defense that has a bottom-five tackling grade according to PFF, Burks and Wilson are two of the surest tacklers. You'd think having Wilson and Burks sharing the field together would be a sound strategy. Instead, it sure feels like the Bengals are trying to justify spending two of six 2025 draft picks on off-ball linebackers, rather than doing what's best for the team in 2025.
All this to say, Wilson deserves more playing time — whether it's in Cincinnati or elsewhere. There's a real chance he's moved by the NFL trade deadline to another contending team.
The San Francisco 49ers have been rumored to have interest in Trey Hendrickson. Assuming the Bengals hold onto their only capable pass-rusher, perhaps Wilson goes to the Bay Area after Fred Warner's season-ending injury.
My hope is for Wilson to stay put and see more action, especially if the Bengals keep trending in the right direction. Time will tell as the deadline draws nearer, yet given how he's been handled playing time-wise, the groundwork is lain for Cincinnati to deal Wilson away.