One low-key awesome trade to push Bengals closer to Super Bowl glory

Cincinnati Bengals superstar Dexter Lawrence gave the team a cruel reminder of just how thin their running back depth is during the latest training camp practice. Samaje Perine slipped out of the backfield, and Lawrence absolutely lit him up over the middle of the field.

Shout out Local 12's Yanni Tragellis for the footage. Worth watching to illustrate my larger point.

Perine is a fine RB2, but he's a pending free agent. Chase Brown is entering a contract year. No guarantee his negotiations with the Bengals brass go smoothly, or that it doesn't climax in a trade request.

At least that's been the history in Cincinnati. In many ways, the organization is turning over a new leaf. However, the Bengals have a way of neglecting certain personnel needs until it's too little, too late.

So rather than leaning on Tahj Brooks as the only running back under contract after this season, why not swing a trade, Duke Tobin? How about for one of the most explosive ball-carriers in the entire league?

49ers RB Isaac Guerendo is my Bengals-related Roman Empire

Maybe it's because I was similarly bullish on a similarly gifted, speedy freakazoid in Mike Washington Jr. this year, but San Francisco 49ers running back Isaac Guerendo is indeed my Bengals-related Roman Empire.

Yes. I can't get the thought of Guerendo off my mind. Listed at 6'0", 221 pounds with 4.3 40 speed and 15 catches on 16 targets for 151 yards to date in the NFL, the 26-year-old is a breakout stud waiting to happen.

The 49ers are flush with running backs. They're anchored by the best in the business, Christian McCaffrey. They've drafted Jordan James (fifth round) and Kaelon Black (third round) in the last two years, too.

Kyle Shanahan banished Guerendo to the doghouse last year. Weird move. The guy ran for 420 yards and averaged five yards per carry as a rookie to go with the aforementioned pass-catching production.

While soft-tissue injuries have been something of a chronic issue, and Guerendo is recovering from a pectoral injury he suffered in offseason training, he's well worth the "risk" of a sixth- or seventh-round pick. That's about all the 49rs could ask for Guerendo if he's on the roster bubble, which he should be even as he's on the PUP list.

Guerendo is a shot at redemption from Cincinnati's Khalil Herbert misfire

This Isaac Guerendo trade scenario may sound ominously similar to the Khalil Herbert whiff from 2024. The Bengals traded a seventh-rounder to Chicago, only to get 36 touches out of him in eight games before he bounced around to three different teams in 2025.

And wouldn't you know it, guess where Herbert is now? San Francisco. It's so poetic, ain't it?

The NFL X account employs a bunch of hardos who don't allow embedded videos to play. Let me take you back to this Guerendo house call at Louisville:

Dude has serious wheels. Khalil Herbert wasn't packing that fastball. Darn near no one across the NFL is to be fair.

With a cheap rookie contract lasting through 2027, Guerendo is an ideal Bengals trade target. You see that play above. It was from a sidecar shotgun formation, which is where Cincinnati's offense loves to live. Joe Burrow just spreads defenses out and picks them apart. Running the ball feels like a necessary evil most of the time.

While the Bengals are incorporating more under center plays, they're not overhauling their offensive identity. As explosive as Brown can be, Guerendo has a different gear than him or any other back on Cincinnati's roster.

If you give Isaac Guerendo some runway to be a one-cut, downhill guy between the tackles with all that mass and speed, especially as a No. 2 complement to Chase Brown, he could really flourish.

Guerendo also doubles as a Brown insurance policy in case the Bengals can't agree with him on a long-term deal. I don't anticipate that happening, but we gotta prepare for these things, y'all!

It sure doesn't seem like the 49ers view Guerendo as a good fit in their outside zone-based scheme. Let him come to the Queen City, get north and south in a hurry without so much reading the blocks and all that jazz, and he can unlock a whole new dimension to this already-lethal Bengals offense.

The fact that Guerendo is on the PUP list right now and may miss the start of the regular season would actually give him a bit of an advantage in a hypothetical trade. He could land in Cincinnati, have plenty of time to digest the playbook, ease back into action, and be fresh-legged and ready to erupt by midseason. Sounds like a great plan to me!

Who Dey Heads, remember the last playoff win? At Buffalo? Let me play you out with some good Guerendo vibes versus the Bills...

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