Cowboys draft buzz should scare the daylights out of Bengals fans

"Apprehension" is a more precise buzz word for Cincinnati Bengals fans around NFL Draft time as opposed to "excitement."

You know that meme of the broken record player sitting on the curb that has a sign on it reading, "Could be fun to fix!" That's how the Bengals generally approach the draft.

Also apropos because I'm convinced they still write scouting reports by hand, call college coaching staffs for inside scoops on prospects by pay phone, and conduct follow-up correspondence with said sources via telegram or snail mail.

Suffice it to say, Cincinnati isn't on the bleeding edge of forward-thinking football philosophy. At least in the scouting department. And that could be exposed yet again on draft night if the latest rumors about the Dallas Cowboys are true.

Cowboys are reportedly eager to trade up past Bengals in 2026 NFL Draft

To be fair, America's Team hasn't won anything of consequence in decades. The Bengals have gone far further in the playoffs than the 'Boys multiple times in that span. Nevertheless, Dallas has a dynamic offense and two first-round picks to work with this year at Nos. 12 and 20 overall.

Although Cincinnati is drafting 10th and should, in theory, be able to score at least one immediate-impact player, they could miss out on their prime target due to the Cowboys leapfrogging them in the pecking order. At least that's the latest word from NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport (skip to the 2:50 mark in the video below):

"The Cowboys are my team most likely to trade up. Again, this is not for clickbait. This is real. I expect them to be at least in the mix, potentially for coming up for a pass rusher or other top defensive player. […] Let's say it's someone like Rueben Bain, let's say it's [Akheem] Mesidor. Let's say somehow, some way, Sonny Styles goes to 7, 8, maybe 9. The Cowboys right now are sitting at 12, so if you look at the landscape there, you have several teams who would potentially be open to moving back. Might the Cowboys jump up a little bit to get a key defensive piece in an offseason when it has been all about fixing that defense?"

Because I am an absolute sicko when it comes to team-building and so badly want to fix the Bengals on my own volition, free of charge, I plotted out a 3,000-word mock offseason a while back. Sonny Styles was my preferred first-round pick.

If there's a world where Styles does fall as far as seventh overall, and the Bengals don't trade up for him, I will crash out harder than anyone has ever crashed out over a draft pick. My mental health will indeed be determined by my preferred NFL team's decision-making. I'm certain I will not be alone in that despair were draft night to play out that way.

It'd be one thing if Cincinnati addressed the linebacker position already. Hasn't happened. Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter are in line to start again after historically awful rookie seasons.

Texas Tech's Jacob Rodriguez could be a second-round option. Another veteran could arrive post-draft in free agency. As the position group stands right now, however, it's looking rather bleak.

Dallas has a real need at linebacker. Like the Bengals, the 'Boys could be in the market for an edge defender like, yes, Miami's Rueben Bain Jr., or as Rapoport suggests, his running mate Akheem Mesidor. Cornerback is another lingering need on that Cowboys defense, which is a position Cincinnati could very well target at No. 10.

Again, that is, unless Dallas jumps up the board and steals away the Bengals' preferred player. Then what?

This is why I advocate for things like pick-swapping with the Giants at No. 5 in a blockbuster Dexter Lawrence trade.

In that instance, the Bengals could get their difference-maker at nose tackle and enhance their chances of scoring Styles for a negligible price relative to the urgency they ought to have to ensure Joe Burrow doesn't demand a trade if Cincinnati misses the playoffs for a fourth straight year.

Unlike Rapoport's hard intelligence about the Cowboys' desire to trade up, there's no reporting out there to suggest such a concept has even entered the Bengals brain trust's collective noggin. Not a surprise. Still disappointing all the same.