Bengals might need to target OL help at NFL trade deadline, too

The Cincinnati Bengals need help.

Talk about a broad statement, but if the shoe fits, right? Zac Taylor’s seat should be scorching hot after back-to-back losses by a combined 76-13 score. Joe Burrow or not, a fundamental lack of talent and execution in key areas continues to crush the team.

Ahead of the NFL trade deadline, the Bengals could probably best navigate it through a mixture of buying and selling.

NFL.com’s Kevin Patra recently pointed out that the Bengals should probably be looking at offensive line help:

“We’re probably a couple more blowout losses away from turning the page and talking about the Bengals selling at the deadline (i.e., potentially dealing Trey Hendrickson ). For now, the same need that has existed in perpetuity in Cincinnati remains: The entire offensive line has struggled in 2025, with youngsters Amarius Mims and Dylan Fairchild particularly having a rough go.”

For starters, the Bengals aren’t going to trade Hendrickson, mostly because his contract rework before the season didn’t include a no-tag clause. Hitting him with a franchise tag at roughly the same cost as this year is a nice bargain for the club.

But the point about the offensive line really feels accurate. The Bengals have found their most success under Zac Taylor when they go out and buy offensive line talent that other teams have developed. Think, Orlando Brown Jr., Ted Karras, Alex Cappa.

Since the Andrew Whitworth and Kevin Zeitler days, the Bengals organization has been horrific at developing its own linemen. They still need to keep trying with Amarius Mims and Dylan Fairchild, but attempting to go out and get quality, fringe backup-starter depth that is already proven at the pro level might accelerate a possible rebuild that is coming this offseason.

This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals might need to target OL help at NFL trade deadline, too

Bengals might need to target OL help at NFL trade deadline, too

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