The Cincinnati Bengals might have to seriously leave their comfort zone if they want to truly upgrade the defense and get back to competing for championships.
That’s especially the case this offseason more than ever, given how the NFL keeps evolving.
Specifically, the NIL has had a major impact on draft class quality in terms of age. And the ever-rising salary cap means fewer and fewer great players ever make it to free agency.
Where does that leave the Bengals?
Trades.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter talked about this dynamic recently:
With teams considering the upcoming free-agent and draft classes to be subpar, there could be an uptick in trade activity this off-season.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 11, 2026
With @DanStanczyk:
🎧 https://t.co/FSBvK8wSE8pic.twitter.com/bb9pX31jHV
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"I've had GMs, front office executives, scouts, who've been looking at this free agent class and saying, 'not a great class.' These teams have done a great job at tying up their players longterm and making sure they don't get to free agency," Schefter said. … "It tells me that we may get more wheeling and dealing in trades."
This could be a major problem for a Bengals team that doesn't like to give up draft assets in trades. Considering just how bad they’ve mostly been at drafting lately, it’s a big concern.
Keep in mind, too, that while the Bengals might be ready to spend in free agency, fewer great players on the market means overspending by a lot just to win bidding wars for players other teams were willing to lose.
That’s keeping things pretty simple, but the point stands: It will be interesting to see if the Bengals adapt quickly enough and consider meaningful trades a way to “spend” to upgrade the roster this offseason, too.
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This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals could exploit NFL trade rumors…if they evolve