Cincinnati Bengals fans can't realistically expect to outbid other more proactive front offices for multiple top players in free agency this offseason. Where the playing field is a little more even is the trade market.
Armed with their highest draft positioning since 2021, the Bengals can serve up some of this year's draft assets, plus perhaps some 2027 picks in the alleged best draft class of all-time, to score some proven veterans.
This would mean contract extensions for certain players, but those are "future problems" Duke Tobin should be happy to deal with if he can get quality defenders in the building. Here are three targets Cincinnati should consider taking a swing on.
Travon Walker, DE, Jacksonville Jaguars
Bit of a weird spot for Jacksonville. New GM James Gladstone is scratching and clawing to get the Jags cap-compliant near the start of the new league year. They need to cut costs somehow.
As a past No. 1 overall pick, Travon Walker has always drawn comparisons to Aidan Hutchinson, the consensus no-brainer pick for Jacksonville who still looks as such. Still, Walker has acquitted himself well in Duval, yet is coming off only a 3.5-sack season and enters 2026 in a contract year.
The raw talent Walker has to work with, plus the chance to emerge from Josh Hines-Allen's shadow, could make an appealing match between himself and the Bengals. Walker also has untapped potential rushing from the inside in pass rushing subpackages. So-called NASCAR crews of four defensive linemen to get after the opposing QB.
What you have to like about Walker, too, is he does have two double-digit sack seasons on his resume, and he missed only 7.9% of his tackles in 2025. He'd be quite the formidable bookend on the edge opposite Myles Murphy.
Replace Boye Mafe with Travon Walker from my sublime mock Bengals offseason scenario below. Tell me that doesn't sound freaking awesome.
Imagine a Myles Murphy-Shemar Stewart-John Franklin-Myers-Boye Mafe NASCAR pass rush package, with Leo Chenal and Sonny Styles as blitz threats.
— Matt Fitzgerald (@MattFitz_gerald) February 6, 2026
Re: simulated pressures w/ this personnel: ~33% of Chenal's NFL snaps at EDGE. Styles played edge on 17% of snaps the last 2 years https://t.co/Zr0pQsPRNz
Jordan Howden, S, New Orleans Saints
Not a name I imagine springs up on the radars of most. Jordan Howden was a better athlete than advertised and a productive five-year starter in college at Minnesota. For reasons unknown to me to this day, he never emerged as more than a consensus Day 3 prospect.
The Saints were happy to scoop up Howden in the fifth round back in 2023. He's excelled for the most part whenever given an opportunity. problem is, New Orleans has a crowded safety room, headlined by Justin Reid, second-year pro Jonas Sanker, and Julian Blackmon, who suffered a season-ending injury in Week 1 last season but should be back as a starter going forward.
That should make Howden a low-key appealing trade target and a contender to start for a fraction of the cost of any top-market safety in free agency.
Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden covets "force multipliers" and versatility in the secondary. Check out Howden's career snap count splits below, courtesy of PFF:
- Deep safety: 731
- Box safety: 353
- Slot CB: 183
- Defensive line (edge): 90
- Boundary CB: 20
Howden fits that "force multiplier" description to a T. Someone who can align anywhere and impact the game in a variety of ways, creating a ripple effect that elevates the rest of the defense. Give me Jordan Howden in Cincy! What would he cost, a sixth-round pick? A fourth at most...?
Kayvon Thibodeaux, DE, New York Giants
SNYtv's Connor Hughes reported at the NFL Scouting Combine that, among the studs on the Giants' loaded defensive front, Kayvon Thibodeaux was the most likely to be traded. Hughes is of the belief that Thibodeaux will, in all likelihood, be moved at some point.
Good enough for me.
Thibodeaux was known as more of a pure pass rusher and a finesse player coming out of Oregon when New York picked him fifth overall in 2022. Although his sack production has dipped since an 11.5-sack effort as an NFL sophomore, Thibodeaux was seventh-best in PFF's run defense grades among edge defenders last year.
As is the case with Walker, the 25-year-old Thibs is playing on his fifth-year rookie contract option. A trade would mean a contract extension. Best of luck to Cincinnati navigating that whole situation.
...But you know what? Figure it out later. The Bengals need to win now to appease Joe Burrow. No time to mess around or worry about the future. The 2026 season is it. Find a way.