The Cincinnati Bengals and their fans should harbor some hard feelings toward the Los Angeles Rams. And not only because the Rams defeated the Bengals in Super Bowl LVI.
Los Angeles routinely goes all-in in pursuit of the Lombardi Trophy, whereas Cincinnati is often far too passive in its pursuit of NFL immortality.
Case in point: The Rams noticed their secondary wasn't up to snuff. They proceeded to trade a first-round pick for Chiefs superstar Trent McDuffie, and signed Jaylen Watson away from Kansas City in free agency. That's how you attack a need. Meanwhile, the Bengals are apparently content to roll with Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter as starting linebackers. Woof.
You wouldn't catch the Bengals parting with a precious first-round pick any time. They're too busy spending such selections on succession plans for players they're too cheap to pay.
The McDuffie deal was something of a double whammy for Cincinnati. In addition to epitomizing the aforementioned "all-in" paradigm, McDuffie's lucrative contract will make the Bengals' extension talks with DJ Turner all the more difficult.
One silver lining is the fact that the Chiefs could very well target a cornerback at No. 9 overall, and could push down another coveted Cincinnati draft target to the 10th overall pick.
But the bottom line here, and the rationale behind this lengthy wind-up, is to underscore how bad of an idea it is for the Bengals to do business with the Rams. They seem to win every single trade, and one major voice in the NFL media landscape has put forth a draft day trade scenario that'd benefit the reigning NFC runners-up at Cincinnati's expense.
ESPN's all-trades mock draft advocates for Bengals to move to 13th overall pick in trade with Rams
Bill "My Columns Are Unnecessarily The Length of Terms & Conditions Agreements" Barnwell presented a creative twist on the typical mock draft format in his latest digital tome for ESPN.
Barnwell's piece dives into an elaborate mock trade scenario involving the Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams, which would net Cincinnati the 13th and 89th overall picks in exchange for Nos. 10 and 189. Here are the most salient bits of Barnwell's write-up, as the Rams seek a viable WR2 of the future in place of Davante Adams:
"If the Rams want to add USC wideout Makai Lemon, they might need to get aggressive. [...] Lemon isn't a direct replacement for Adams in the long term, but Lemon's willingness to work over the middle of the field and block would appeal to McVay. It'll also get Lemon on the field immediately in what could be Stafford's final season."
The appeal for Cincinnati is to still target a need at linebacker or safety in the event that Ohio State's Sonny Styles and Caleb Downs are off the board.
A key difference between the Rams' contingency for Adams and what the Bengals typically do in Round 1 is that both Adams and Lemon would make a major impact this year. Cincinnati's latest first-round picks haven't been counted on to contribute right away. That approach had better change in a couple weeks considering how high they're drafting.
Barnwell suggests the Bengals go for Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman or Georgia linebacker CJ Allen with the 13th overall pick via LA. Thieneman would be a fine fit, yet he'd be a current-season redundancy since the Bengals have two starting safeties in Bryan Cook and Jordan Battle, along with a No.3 option in free-agent acquisition Kyle Dugger.
If the argument is to play Thieneman at the nickel, well, Ja'Sir Taylor just signed a one-year deal to compete with Jalen Davis at that spot. Dugger could be in the running there, too.
You see what I mean? Utter nonsense as far as making Cincinnati's defense as good as it can be right now.
And the 13th pick is way too rich for me re: CJ Allen. He's a sure tackler and a probable upgrade over Knight and Carter as a run defender. However, he's not some transcendent athlete or some generational prospect like, say, Sonny Styles.
I'm to the point where I honestly don't know what I want the Bengals to do with the 10th pick. They appear to be waffling and hedging their bets at one prior position of need in real time, whilst neglecting their glaring need at linebacker.
Sounds about right, doesn't it? All those problems would be exacerbated in a trade with the Rams to gift-wrap them the prospect of their choosing. Maybe Cincinnati's extra third-round pick turns into someone good, or could be flipped in a trade for a proven veteran. Personally, I wouldn't chance it. A trade up in the draft is far more preferable to a trade down.