The Cincinnati Bengals look like a team that should host a big sale at the NFL trade deadline.
But selling doesn’t mean only offloading talent and acquiring draft capital. And given the team’s up-and-down drafting consistency lately, it probably isn’t a bad idea to trade away players and get back players who have shown they can help over the long term.
If the Bengals are getting players back via trade if they become sellers, these are a few names they might want to consider.
Halapoulivaati Vaitai, OL, Eagles
This is the type of deal the Bengals should be looking at. Throw something at the Philadelphia Eagles for a player like Vaitai, a guy who doesn’t seem long for the roster there anyway.
Vaitai is a free agent after the season, but assuring themselves the rights to him via trade and extension would be a smooth move for the Bengals. He’s 26, started at left tackle during a Super Bowl run in place of Jason Peters and has experience at right tackle and guard.
A move like this would suddenly mean left tackle (Jonah Williams), center (Trey Hopkins) and perhaps one of the spots on the right side are secured for a long time. It would also mean one less position of need during the draft.
Vic Beasley, EDGE, Atlanta Falcons
Normally Beasley wouldn’t have made this, as the Bengals only seem to like massive bargains or steals when it comes to in-season trades.
But…Beasley might be a steal.
According to Jeff Schultz of The Athletic, Beasley’s trade market is much softer than the Falcons would prefer. Meaning, maybe the Bengals can swoop in and get a 27-year-old former top-10 pick who once posted 15.5 sacks in a season.
Beasley has experienced a big dip since 2016, but he’s young, doesn’t have leverage for a massive extension and the pass rush is suddenly a very sour spot for a Bengals team that is used to boasting it as a strength.
Kelechi Osemele, OL, New York Jets
Remember what we said earlier — the Bengals love a bargain.
New York Jets and offensive lineman Kelechi Osemele might end up being one thanks to his impasse with the team over the handling of an injury (sound familiar?).
Here though, the hapless Jets seem largely at fault. This would be a future-minded add since it sounds like the 30-year-old veteran needs surgery, but Osemele has one year left on his deal and could perhaps restructure upon arrival. It beats picking scraps off the heap like the Bengals did this past offseason. Maybe not by much, but the Bengals need bodies.
Trent Williams, OL, Washington Redskins
This one can’t go unmentioned.
Williams, the disgruntled top-10 tackle in Washington, continues to seem like he’s unavailable. But everyone has a price and that includes a rebuilding Washington team that is struggling without such a great player to protect top-15 pick Dwayne Haskins, both now and into the future.
The Williams situation has the feel of something that might be resolved right at the deadline. If that’s the case, the Bengals might want to enter the fray. To be blunt, the team hasn’t been good at drafting linemen for years, so while Williams is 31, he’d be the best left tackle in town since Andrew Whitworth. And this might just be the price the Bengals have to pay for botching that situation so badly all those years ago.
