There are now 18 days left until Election Day the NFL Trade Deadline! Usually, it’s an eventful day in the league that the Cincinnati Bengals elect to not participate in. Since 2000, the Bengals have only pulled off two in-season trades. Those two trades?
October 18, 2011: Carson Palmer was traded to the Raiders for a 2012 first (Dre Kirkpatrick) and a 2013 second (Giovani Bernard).
October 28, 2020: Carlos Dunlap was traded to the Seattle Seahawks for B.J. Finney and a 2021 seventh (Wyatt Huber).
Despite a disappointing 2-4 start, it’s unlikely that the team will buck that trend. However, it hasn’t stopped the experts from pontificating about what the Bengals should do. While plenty of people want the team to trade Tee Higgins away or attempt to trade for Maxx Crosby, Bill Barnwell of ESPN has a different approach.
Top Analyst Suggests Cincinnati Bengals Trade Away Offensive Playmaker
Through six games, there has been a revelation at the tight end position. Last year, Drew Sample was the blocking tight end and Tanner Hudson led the group with 352 yards and one touchdown off 39 receptions. This offseason, the Bengals invested in the position with a free agent signing and two draft picks. Suddenly, Hudson’s role evaporated. He was a healthy scratch in Week 3, Week 4, and Week 5. In total, he has logged 13 offensive snaps with two catches for 18 yards.
Barnwell suggested the Bengals ship him off to the Philadelphia Eagles with a 2026 seventh-round pick for a 2026 sixth-round pick. His justification in the ESPN+ write-up is as follows:
Hudson was quietly an efficient part of the Bengals’ offense down the stretch last season, averaging 1.6 yards per route run while catching 22 of his 39 receptions from quarterback Jake Browning, who was filling in for injured Joe Burrow. I wondered if Hudson might be able to sustain that role with Burrow returning, but Cincinnati signed Mike Gesicki and has received solid play from rookie fourth-rounder Erick All, which has buried Hudson on the depth chart. He has played only 13 offensive snaps in 2024.
Getting Something for Nothing
While the Bengals would likely prefer to get more than a late-round pick-swap, this would be a perfect example of just getting something, anything in return for a roster spot.
The Bengals made a decision to roster five tight ends in order to make sure both draft picks stay in Cincinnati. Additionally, they thought highly enough about Hudson that he deserved a spot. Now that the team is through six games, roles are being defined and Hudson is currently on the outside looking in on the tight end rotation.
For Cincinnati, it makes sense. For the Eagles, it makes sense.
However “making sense” is not a prerequisite for the Bengals to make a move. There have been a number of potential moves that “made sense.” Trading away Hudson in the offseason would have made more sense because his value has since tanked…assuming he had any tangible value before.
A few years ago, the Bengals made a trade to shed a fringe roster player and it’s worked out swimmingly. While a late-round pick-swap likely won’t yield the same results as Billy Price for B.J. Hill and a seventh-round pick, it would help the roster management in the future.
Main Image: Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK
