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A cryptic message by a Bengals player seems to hint that Dexter Lawrence could be joining the team<\/p>\n
We are one week away from the 2026 NFL Draft, and the Cincinnati Bengals<\/a> are caught up in smokescreen season. During this period before the draft, trade rumors begin to pop up and insiders begin revealing potential draft-day plans for different NFL franchises. This is no different for the Bengals, who have been linked with seemingly every defensive prospect<\/a> in the draft.<\/p>\n The reason for that is very obvious: the team allowed the third-most points in the NFL last season, and despite a superstar-led, high-potent offense, Cincinnati has missed the postseason in three consecutive seasons. Additionally, as we move closer to the draft, trades for veteran players become more likely, as teams moving those players want to receive draft compensation.<\/p>\n The Bengals have previously been interested in superstar pass rusher Maxx Crosby,<\/a> but that did not end up materializing. Now, Cincinnati has another opportunity to land an All-Pro player in the form of New York Giants<\/a> defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence, who has requested a trade amid stagnant contract negotiations. While the Bengals have not been reported to have conversations for Lawrence as of yet, people believe one Bengals player\u2019s social media actions may hint at a potential deal.<\/p>\n Cincinnati Bengals\u2019 B.J. Hill\u2019s Cryptic Message<\/p>\n Cincinnati Bengals defensive lineman B.J. Hill posted on X<\/a>, \u201cBe Patient!!!\u201d Bengals on SI writer Landon Belote believes that Hill\u2019s post may be related to a potential Lawrence move. Belote wrote:<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHill, a man of few words, sent a message to Bengals fans via X with a message reading \u201cBe Patient!!!\u201d This comes one week after Hill made waves on the platform by tweeting a \u201cshushing face\u201d emoji, something that in the past has been a precursor to the Bengals making a move for a player.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Belote also added that the post may be a different type of transaction, unrelated to Lawrence. He wrote:<\/p>\n \u201cWhile the hope is that Hill is hinting to the Bengals having interest in trading for the Giants All-Pro defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, it could also just as easily be hinting at another kind of move. With a name like DJ Reader still available in free agency, it is entirely possible that the Bengals could be looking to bring Reader back into the fold even after he has had visits with the Ravens<\/a> and Giants recently.\u201d<\/p>\n It is important to mention that Hill was previously a member of the New York Giants, where he was teammates with Dexter Lawrence. While adding Reader would certainly provide a boost to Cincinnati\u2019s defense, it would not be the blockbuster move that trading for Lawrence is.<\/p>\n Dexter Lawrence\u2019s Production<\/p>\n In 2022 and 2023, Lawrence was Pro Football Focus\u2019 highest-rated interior defensive lineman; however, that has slightly declined since. During the 2025 season, he was ranked as the No. 9 interior defensive lineman and received his worst run defense grade since the 2021 season.<\/p>\n Despite his decline in the 2025 season, which could be attributed to ongoing injury issues, A to Z Sports writer John Sheeran said<\/a> Lawrence would immediately be among the top four players on Cincinnati\u2019s roster.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tJose Esquer<\/a> Jose Esquer is a Mexican-American sportswriter and communications student based in San Diego, CA. His work spans football, basketball, baseball, and soccer. He has written for platforms like RotoWire and DolphinsTalk. You can find him on Twitter\/X @JEsquer8, usually talking Dolphins, world football, or both. More about Jose Esquer<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Bengals\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty A cryptic message by a Bengals player seems to hint that Dexter Lawrence could be joining the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":868079,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2053],"tags":[228,227,256,2296,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-868078","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cincinnati-bengals","8":"tag-bengals","9":"tag-cincinnati","10":"tag-cincinnati-bengals","11":"tag-cincinnatibengals","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116417433351606809","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=868078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/868079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=868078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=868078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=868078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}