The Cincinnati Bengals are nothing if not stubborn about their team-building process and their convictions about certain in-house players, or at least they were until this offseason.
In past years, the Bengals might've just rolled with 2025 first-round pick Shemar Stewart and last offseason's prized outside free agent T.J. Slaton as key pillars of the defensive line. Instead, they traded for a real (the best?) nose tackle in Dexter Lawrence, and signed Boye Mafe in free agency.
That's to only single out a couple major moves Cincinnati made to improve the defense. However, the linebacker position remains curiously unchanged from the 2025 campaign.
If only there was a soft-tanking team with a linebacker who led the NFL in solo tackles this past year. Oh wait...
Proposed Jordyn Brooks trade is costly but worth it for all-in Bengals
Bleacher Report's Gary Davenport recently posted an article about players across the league who could use a change of scenery the most. Miami Dolphins star Jordyn Brooks understandably cracked that list as a reigning first-team All-Pro trapped in a complete tear-down rebuild in the back half of his football prime.
In exchange for a 2027 second-round pick and a 2028 fourth-rounder, the Bengals could give Miami a compelling enough package to pull the trigger on a deal. Here's part of Davenport's breakdown:
"The Cincinnati Bengals have been wildly aggressive this offseason, adding multiple pieces via free agency and trade. But the linebacker position remains a glaring weakness in the Queen City. Last year, Brooks led the league with 183 total tackles and was named a first-team All-Pro. If the Dolphins don't plan to re-up him, the time to trade the 28-year-old is now. And given Cincinnati's 'all-in' approach to upgrading the defense this year, a package of picks headlined by a second-rounder is a deal worth making."
Brooks is someone who I've stumped for many a time and oft as the perfect veteran leader for the Bengals' most questionable position group. Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr. might make the Year 2 leap to replacement-level starters, but even that modest ceiling would be a Herculean effort on both their parts.
Although he isn't some excellent player in pass coverage, Brooks can't possibly be worse than the combo of Knight and Carter in that department. Plus, Brooks is an elite-of-elite run defender with astonishing tackling efficiency and a football IQ that dwarfs that of Cincinnati's two green incumbents.
The Dolphins have had a full-blown fire sale this offseason. They need all the draft capital they can get to secure premier players in next year's draft. They drafted Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez in the second round, a player I really wanted for the Bengals. Additionally, Brooks will be a free agent in 2027.
All signs point to Brooks being a prime trade candidate. Few teams with a shot at contending have a more glaring weakness at linebacker than the Bengals.
Sacrificing a second-round pick seems steep until you remember that Cincinnati is expected to get a compensatory third-round pick for Trey Hendrickson. That second-round pick is more like a glorified third-rounder anyway, if the Bengals achieve what they hope to in 2026.
Seems obvious to me. How bout y'all?
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