The Cincinnati Bengals have been inactive trade partners in recent NFL Drafts. The Dexter Lawrence trade may awaken their phone when the 2026 draft gets underway.
Feb 24, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Cincinnati Bengals general manager Duke Tobin speaks at the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center.
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
The fun part about the Cincinnati Bengals trading the No. 10 pick for Dexter Lawrence are the possibilities that could follow.
Dismissing the Bengals being aggressive in any way, shape, or form is no longer acceptable. The precedent has been established, even if may not be repeated for quite some time.
Still, trading for Lawrence tells you how Cincinnati may feel about its current timeline. Acquiring one of the NFL’s best defensive linemen instead of drafting a potential long-term piece with a top-10 pick is the equivalent of giving the dealer all of your chips.
The Bengals’ new first pick in the 2026 NFL Draft is their second-round selection at No. 41 overall. For the sake of making the 2026 roster as good as possible, drafting a player earlier than the No. 41 pick may be on the table.
Could the Bengals trade up from their second-round pick?
Cincinnati’s ideology is to let the draft board fall as it naturally does. The accumulation of picks is (almost) always more important than sacrificing swings in an effort to get “the guy.” Trading down is the significantly more likely path as opposed to trading up.
SI’s Albert Breer hints at the Bengals being “aggressive moving around the board” during the draft following the Lawrence trade, implying moving up or down is possible.
I’d also tell you not to be surprised if the Dexter Lawrence II trade winds up being a precursor to the Bengals being more aggressive moving around the board this weekend. Cincinnati’s generally been one of the most conservative teams in football with draft trades—and it’s actually now been three years since they last did a deal to move up or down at any point in the draft (they made just two trades involving picks over that period, and both were for veteran players, shipping off Joe Mixon and bringing in Khalil Herbert in 2024). The Bengals have seven picks heading in. We’ll see what happens.
Albert Breer
Sports Illustrated Senior NFL Reporter
Cincinnati giving up its No. 10 pick is evidence of the club not valuing a top-10 pick this year like how it always has. There’s an accepted drop-off in every draft, and indications point to this year’s cliff arriving quicker compared to an average year. Prospects taken beyond the first 10 picks are all considered very similar in terms of upside.
The appeal in trading up for one of them from pick No. 41 may not seem that attractive, but consider the last time the Bengals traded up this early in the draft.
Bengals’ most recent trade up
The 2022 draft saw Cincy pick at the end of the second round, and a cornerback was needed for the roster. Sitting at pick No. 63, the Bengals were anxiously awaiting to see if Cam Taylor-Britt would fall to them. Taylor-Britt was considered the last corner in his bucket of quality left on the board.
They didn’t want to wait any longer once pick No. 59 was submitted. Cincinnati traded its sixth-round pick for pick No. 60 and filled a need everyone had pegged them to fill early on.
Coincidentally, the Bengals have the same need again four years later. They do not mess around with the position in the draft. If they feel like there’s going to be another fall-off happening in front of them, after showing everyone how serious they are at winning now, I am not putting it past them to move up the board from 41.
Cincinnati could go all the way to the tail end of the first round, and it wouldn’t shock me as much as the Lawrence trade did.
In an either/or scenario, expecting the Bengals to move down instead of up is the safer choice. Recouping the pick they lost is a reality you could easily envision.
Willingly losing that pick in the first place is why the alternative can’t be dismissed.
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Cincinnati Bengals News
The Cincinnati Bengals are now without a first-round pick after trading for Dexter Lawrence. Our last 2026 NFL Mock Draft for the team focuses on how Cincy can put together a successful class with its remaining picks.