The Bengals’ Big Gamble

Desperate times call for desperate measures… and the Bengals just pushed all-in with 9-2 offsuit.

Earlier this week, Cincinnati traded the No. 10 overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft to the New York Giants for star defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence and promptly handed him a one-year contract extension to keep him in the Orange and Black through the 2028 season.

Lawrence is a two-time All-Pro and three-time Pro Bowler who has the second-most pressures (123) from the defensive tackle position over the past four seasons. Problem is, he’s coming off a season in which he posted career lows in sacks (0.5) and tackles (33). For Bengals fans, if Lawrence doesn’t play more like the player we saw from 2022-2024 and less like the guy we saw in 2025, it could get dark early in Cincinnati.

Last season, the Bengals ranked 31 st in total defense (380.9 total yards allowed per game) and 30 th in scoring defense (28.9 points allowed per game). At one point, they allowed at least 27 points and at least 350 total yards over eight straight games, a mark which had never been done before in NFL history.

But wait, there’s more.

In 2025, Pro Football Focus charted the Bengals as the NFL’s third-worst tackling team in the league; three of the top-8 players in terms of total tackles missed all played for Cincinnati. Heck, wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase had as many solo tackles (5) as first- round rookie defensive end Shemar Stewart. What’s worse, Stewart’s 41.2 PFF grade ranked dead last among 116 qualifying edge defenders.

Does anyone really expect Lawrence alone to plug all those holes? Of course not. In fact, one might argue that if the Bengals were going to make a move with that tenth overall pick, it would have been to trade down to accumulate more picks to try and upgrade as many spots as possible instead of trading it away for one guy.

Here’s the other problem: that leaky defense might not even be the Bengals’ worst unit. No, that inauspicious title belongs to their beleaguered offensive line. Last season, Cincinnati had the No. 28-ranked offensive line according to Pro Football Focus – and even that ranking might be generous. They’ve been so bad up front for so long I wouldn’t be surprised if PFF was giving them extra points just out of pity.

Joe Burrow has been sacked 213 times in 77 career games. For context, Andrew Luck was sacked 174 times in 86 career games before all those hits forced him into early retirement. In fact, things got so bad for Burrow that he publicly lamented the fact that

he wasn’t having ‘fun’ playing football towards the end of last season. He added, “I’ve been through more than most, and it’s certainly not easy on the brain or the body, so I’m just trying to have fun doing it again.”

The Bengals have been on tilt ever since, and after this Lawrence deal, they’re pot-committed. Problem is, even in a wide-open AFC, with a leaky defense and a putrid offensive line, the Bengals are already drawing dead.