The Cincinnati Bengals are extremely unlikely to be one of the teams interested in trading for New York Giants superstar Dexter Lawrence.
It’s a quiet part of the NFL calendar before the draft, so Lawrence’s trade request from the Giants made waves. Each fanbase then plays the what if? Question about a possible deal.
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But Lawrence isn’t the type of gamble the Bengals usually like to take. And they probably shouldn’t, either.
The Bengals still have a need for more interior pass-rush. Kris Jenkins Jr. has not panned out in the middle like they’d hoped. Jonathan Allen is here to help now, and there’s hope that BJ Hill will get back to form after last year’s nagging issues.
Lawrence would help, of course. But there’s the matter of needing to trade what is likely a mid-to-late first-round pick’s worth of value just to get him in the door.
Then there’s the contract. He’s got two years left on his current deal, including a cap charge of $20 million this upcoming season. Part of his trade request stems from wanting an even bigger contract extension.
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The Bengals aren’t going to give up big assets for a guy who is already 28 and wanting a top-of-market deal. They just let an All-Pro like Trey Hendrickson get away.
And they’re especially not going to do it while sitting on the No. 10 pick, where they could address the spot again.
Fun idea, but a few connected dots say the Bengals won’t be one of the teams even picking up the phone, even just to get an idea of what the price might be.
This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Don’t look for Bengals in Dexter Lawrence trade sweepstakes