Are the Cincinnati Bengals More Likely To Trade Up or Trade Back in the Draft?

CINCINNATI – There is a movement afoot in the NFL that involves a lot of younger, wheeling-and-dealing general managers shaking up the first round — and subsequent ones — of the NFL Draft.

Cincinnati Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin doesn’t fall into that newer, brasher, gambling style, but he too has been much more active making draft-day trades the last decade.

It’s just that those moves haven’t come in the first round, even with the league seeing historic trading activity in the last two drafts.

Bengals Have Poor Track Record Trading First-Round Picks

On the first day of the 2023 NFL Draft, there were 14 trades. That was one shy of the league-record 15 set in 2022.

In 2021, there were six. In 2020, seven. And in 2019, nine.

The uptick in activity means the phone will be ringing at Paycor Stadium on April 25 — and the 26th and 27th.

New PFN #Bengals pod!@IC_Draft joined me and @ByJayMorrison to talk Brock Bowers, Round 1 OTs, Round 2 WRs, the deepest position groups, his scouting process, and much more on today's ep:https://t.co/NwAqH65yZD

— Dallas Robinson (@DallasDRobinson) April 3, 2024

If the Bengals decide to make a move, would they be more willing to move up, perhaps for one of the top three receivers who fell or an offensive tackle if that top group of six begins thinning early?

Or would they be more willing to trade back and accumulate more draft capital, which obviously is something Tobin and the Cincinnati organization as a whole covet?

History — both recent and old — suggests it will be the latter.

The Bengals have made five draft-day trades involving first-round picks. Four of them involved trading back, and one — arguably the most ill-fated trade in franchise history — involved a leap into the No. 1 overall spot.

Let’s take a look at each of the five draft-day trades involving first-round picks.

1989: The Bengals, fresh off an appearance in Super Bowl 23, traded out of the first round, dealing No. 27 to the Atlanta Falcons for a second-, fourth-, and 10th-round pick.

The second-round pick became running back Eric Ball, who played six seasons for the Bengals. The fourth was linebacker Kerry Owens, who never played a down in the league, and the 10th was cornerback Cornell Holloway, who never played for the Bengals but logged three seasons with the Indianapolis Colts.

The Falcons used No. 27 to select wide receiver Shawn Collins, who had 862 yards as a rookie but only 571 combined over the next four seasons with Atlanta, Cleveland, and Green Bay.

1992: Cincinnati traded down from No. 4 to No. 6 with Washington and received an extra first-round pick (No. 28) while swapping No. 58 for No. 84.

Washington selected wide receiver Desmond Howard at No. 4, while the Bengals took quarterback David Klingler at No. 6.

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At 28, Cincinnati drafted safety Darryl Williams, who ended up playing 156 games in a 10-year career, while the oft-sacked, gun-shy Klingler appeared in just 33 games over six seasons.

Washington ended up trading away the No. 58 pick, while the Bengals selected cornerback Leonard Wheeler at 84. Wheeler played four seasons in Cincinnati and six overall.

1995: The Bengals struck a deal with the fledgling Carolina Panthers to move up from No. 5 to No. 1 to take Ki-Jana Carter. The running back tore his ACL on his first carry in the preseason and was never the same.

The Panthers took Kerry Collins at No. 5, and Collins played 17 seasons, starting 180 games and leading the 2000 New York Giants to the Super Bowl.

For moving back four spots, Carolina received Cincinnati’s second-round pick, No. 36, and selected defensive end Shawn King, who logged just 8.5 sacks in a four-year career.

2004: After moving back from 17 to 24 before the draft, the Bengals went back two more spots on draft day in another move that ended up biting them.

The St. Louis Rams took running back Steven Jackson at 24, and Cincinnati drafted running back Chris Perry at 26.

Jackson rushed for 11,468 yards and went to three Pro Bowls in a 12-year career, while Perry totaled 606 yards and played only four seasons.

For moving back two spots and missing out on Jackson, Cincinnati received a fourth-round pick, which ended up being offensive lineman Stacy Andrews. He played eight seasons — five with the Bengals — and made 49 starts.

2012: One of the Bengals’ favorite draft-day trade partners, the New England Patriots, gave up a third-round pick to move up from 27 to 21.

The six-spot drop cost Cincinnati a chance to draft guard David DeCastro (six Pro Bowls, two All-Pros). The Bengals did all right for themselves by selecting guard Kevin Zeitler, who played five seasons in Cincinnati before the team let him walk in free agency. Zeitler is still active and heading into his 13th season after signing last month with the Detroit Lions.

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The Patriots took defensive end Chandler Jones at 21.

The third-round pick the Bengals acquired ended up being defensive tackle Brandon Thompson, who appeared in 39 games with seven starts in his four-year career in Cincinnati.