Bengals News: No high draft pick for Jonah Williams, Irv Smith. Jr., and more
In Bengals news, teams aren't interested in trading a high draft pick in exchange for Jonah Williams, according to Outkick. Also, the Bengals signed Irv Smith Jr., which shores up a position of need for them.
Williams requested a trade two days after the Bengals signed Orlando Brown Jr. and made it clear their intention was to move the former first-rounder to the right side of the line. Obviously, Williams didn't like that idea because he asked to be traded not even 48 hours later.
From the jump, I didn't think Williams would merit anything above a fourth-round pick. First and foremost, Williams simply isn't that good. There's a reason the Bengals were willing to sign Brown and move him to another position. He surrendered the most sacks in the league last year so why would teams want to give up a third-round pick or better for that kind of production?
Secondly, Williams is injury-prone. He missed all of his rookie season, missed six games in 2020, and missed the playoff run in the 2022 season. He was healthy in 2021 and played his best ball but teams aren't willing to take the risk of him replicating that performance.
Speaking of injury-prone players, the Bengals signed Irv Smith Jr. to fill their hole at tight end. Smith has the potential to be a good player if he can stay healthy but it's not something to ignore with the new addition.
Tight end Irv Smith, Jr. has agreed to a 1 year deal with the Bengals, per source. @nflnetwork @gmfb @NFLonFOX
— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) March 28, 2023
Check out what else is trending in Bengals news.
2023 NFL mock draft: Mike Tannenbaum's GM first-round picks [Mike Tannenbaum, ESPN]
Now that tight end has been addressed, we might see more people have the Bengals go in a different direction in their mock drafts. Tannenbaum has Cincinnati snatching up Emmanuel Forbes, a cornerback out of Mississippi State in his recent mock. The team did sign Sidney Jones on Monday but hey, the more, the merrier is best when it comes to the secondary!
2023 NFL Draft: 5 Players Who Would Be Huge Round 1 Mistakes [Alex Kay, Bleacher Report]
Speaking of Forbes, he actually makes an appearance on this list from Kay. I won't spoil the other four players but one of them won't be an option for Cincinnati since they're not looking at a quarterback in round one.
Next. 4 Recent Free Agent Signings That Didn't Pan Out. dark
2023 NFL win totals for all 32 teams: Five best Over/Under bets, including the Jets soaring with Aaron Rodgers [Jordan Dajani, CBS Sports]
The most entertaining part of this post is where Dajani says that it's worth betting the under on the Ravens' win total. A bad season for the Ravens would bring a lot of joy to the city of Cincinnati.