The Bengals turned plenty of heads this offseason with a blockbuster trade for Dexter Lawrence, and a few savvy acquisitions, including edge rusher Boye Mafe. For years so many around the league saw the Bengals as a laughing stock when it came to player acquisitions and trades. Especially after the saga with Trey Hendrickson. The moves made in early 2026 began to shift a lot of those perceptions.
The Bengals Defense Is Improving But Needed Help
But Bengals fans knew they were just the start, and that much more was needed to truly propel this defense into becoming one of the better units in the NFL and to finally give Joe Burrow a legitimate chance at a deep playoff run once again.
And for their parts, those new additions have been carrying their weight in terms of pulling this defense back to respectability.
The Bengals rank 14th in the league in points allowed per game (22.6) and 26th overall in total defense (360 YPG) but are tied for 4th in total sacks with 23 and tied for 8th in takeaways forced with 11. They also rank 5th in red zone touchdown defense.
The defense is better, but it was far from where it needed to be even before the trade deadline.
The question then became, could Duke Tobin and the Bengals’ front office replicate their earlier home run successes to help get the Bengals defense more help?
The answer was a resounding no, with a side of embarrassment that Cincinnati fans know all too well.
An Embarrassing Mistake for Duke Tobin
Cincinnati had been quiet during the majority of the window before the deadline, but started to show signs of life today. They initially agreed to acquire edge rusher Arnold Ebiketie from the Philadelphia Eagles for a 2027 sixth-round pick.
With Cashius Howell on injured reserve with a wrist injury, Ebiketie was a modest target. He had no sacks through nine games with Philadelphia this season, though he did notch 16.5 sacks over his young NFL career. He was with Philadelphia after signing a one-year deal worth up to $7.3 million this past offseason.
The deal seemed like it might be the start of something bigger for Cincinnati and Ebiketie seemed like a solid and affordable addition.
But then it all fell apart, and the Bengals abruptly alled off the deal before it became official, leaving many fans scratching their heads in confusion.
The embarrassing reason soon became apparent. Over The Cap’s Nick Korte flagged an issue on X shortly after the trade was reported that revolved around one of the more obscure elements of the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement: compensatory draft picks.
See if you can follow along, where Duke Tobin could not.
The Compensatory Draft Pick Shuffle
A team that loses more qualifying free agents than it signs can be awarded extra picks in rounds three through seven. Players acquired by trade during the season can also count towards this formula.
Cincinnati lost three qualifying free agents in Trey Hendrickson, Joseph Ossai and Noah Fant. It signed two in Bryan Cook and Boye Mafe, while guard Cordell Volson did not qualify. The Bengals initially earned three compensatory picks for 2027, but two were canceled out by those signings. That left a projected third-round pick tied to Hendrickson’s departure to Baltimore as the only one remaining.
Ebiketie was signed by Philadelphia as a qualifying free agent. Bringing him in would have been a third qualifying acquisition and erased that remaining third-round pick from the Hendrickson transaction.
That would have meant if the trade had gone through the Bengals would end up sending a 2027 sixth-round pick as well as a 2027 third-round pick for a rotational defender.
It was an embarrassing oversight, but at least Cincinnati had the fortitude to realize its mistake and cancel the trade.
Nevertheless, the timing fueled speculation that Korte’s post alerted the front office. And the craziest part of this wild story is that this wasn’t the first time he identified a problem with a Cincinnati deal.
In 2024, he pointed out that Cincinnati’s projected fourth-round compensatory pick for losing safety Jessie Bates III should have been a third-rounder, and the NFL eventually awarded the higher pick as a result.
A Media Laughingstock
In the aftermath, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo added that the Eagles were unhappy, but because the trade was agreed to and not official, there was little Philadelphia general manager Howie Roseman could do about it.
But the media wasted no time roasting the Bengals for their blunder. CBS Sports’ JP Acosta and Steelers Depot’s Alex Kozora both joked that the Bengals saw Korte’s post and realized what they were about to do. Analytics coach Ryan Paganetti asked whether Cincinnati canceled the deal because it had not understood the compensatory implications to begin with.
Dallas Cowboys analyst Marcus Mosher and former ESPN reporter Ed Werder were more direct. Both argued that Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin and the front office should have known the rules before agreeing to terms.
ESPN’s Ben Solak went further in his trade deadline winners and losers, naming the Bengals a deadline loser even though they avoided the worst outcome. He called it extremely embarrassing for a cap analyst’s tweet to prevent a mistake made by front office executives who handle millions of dollars worth of deals each year. He also reported that multiple teams told him they use in-house software to test moves against the compensatory formula before making them, something the Bengals apparently chose not to invest in.
Head coach Zac Taylor said on Monday that the Bengals would do “Nothing … we’re good.” The deadline passed with Cincinnati making no moves, so he was right, though not in the way anyone expected. The Bengals kept their 2027 third-round compensatory pick but also made no moves as their AFC rivals got better.
Other Playoff Contenders Got Better
The Chiefs added to their passing game by acquiring wide receiver Josh Downs from the Indianapolis Colts, while the Bills addressed their secondary by getting safety Amani Hooker from the Tennessee Titans.
The Jaguars seemed to win the day with a series of defensive moves, adding defensive tackle Jordan Davis from the Philadelphia Eagles and All-Pro safety Jessie Bates from the Atlanta Falcons.
Thankfully, other AFC North rivals were similarly quiet, as the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns opted to make no moves either.
The Bengals will face those Steelers on Sunday night in primetime, with the division lead on the line.
They’ll just have to do it with the players they have, and pray Joe Burrow continues to bail them out.
Maybe Duke and company will get it right next offseason, let’s just hope they read the CBA this time.
