Picking fifth overall, the Cincinnati Bengals could be a hotbed for trade activity in the 2021 NFL draft.
Provided the Bengals want to move down.
Director of player personnel Duke Tobin met with the media on Wednesday and the topic of a trade down came up. He said the team has discussed it with others, but that the plan is to remain in range of a top-flight talent, per Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com:
“We have discussions with teams all the time about potentials and are you willing to talk about it. Yeah, we’re willing to talk about it. It has to be right. I don’t anticipate going down to a point where we’re losing the level of player we’re looking at right now. I think we’re in a good spot in this draft to get one of the guys who is a premier talent.”
Duke Tobin talking about the draft. Says they’ve talked with teams about a trade, but they want to stay in a spot to draft a premier player.
— Geoff Hobson (@GeoffHobsonCin) April 21, 2021
None of this is too shocking at this stage of the game. The Bengals could very well have their pick of the top three non-quarterback prospects if passers come off the board with each of the draft’s first four picks.
In other words, it would take a monster offer for the Bengals to move out at this point. And the furthest we could see the team moving down is at No. 9 with Denver, which would seem to be a sweet spot to still get a top-10 talent (or top six, provided the first four picks are passers).
But as always, things can change on a dime and it only takes one desperate team to make the Bengals a can’t miss offer.
