The Cincinnati Bengals do not take over the NFL Draft. They let the draft dictate what their actions will be.

It’s a solid strategy 90% of the time. Hoarding draft picks and allowing other clubs to sacrifice theirs to take risks is a recipe for adding as much talent as possible every single April.

Trading up five spots in the first 10 picks definitively goes against this ideology, but it’s what at least one NFL writer wants to see.

Bengals urged to trade up for defensive stud

Cincinnati is situated to pick an exceptional prospect with the No. 10 pick in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft, but what if it wants a bit more? Trading up five spots to the No. 5 pick with the New York Giants would be a clear path to get a player the club really desires.

NFL.com’s Nick Shook proposes the Bengals make this trade to acquire one of the best defensive players in the draft, specifically name-dropping Ohio State linebackers Arvell Reese and Sonny Styles.

Cincinnati needs to continue building its defense — especially at the second level — but might end up missing out on every useful blue-chip defensive prospect worthy of the 10th overall selection. The pressure is on Duke Tobin to make a splash on that side of the ball, especially with Joe Burrow openly expressing frustration with the team’s (defensive) struggles over the last few years. Before the Giants’ pick arrives at No. 5, Tobin works the phones to strike a deal to jump five spots, mortgaging the future for the right to draft a player who can start on Day 1. If it’s an in-state star like Ohio State’s Sonny Styles or Arvell Reese, that would be an added bonus.

Shook’s scenario of Cincy missing out on blue-chip prospects is plausible. The top of the draft features several defensive players the Bengals would love to select, but most of the teams picking ahead of them are eyeing the same names.

Reese specifically is a virtual certainty to be drafted within the first handful of picks. The idea of him making it to pick No. 5 seems impossible, but that’s not the case for Styles. Many mock drafts have New York picking the 21-year old LB at that spot. It would take quite the offer to get the Giants to move back five spots so another team can take one of their top targets.

The most recent comparable move happened in 2023 when the Arizona Cardinals traded up from the No. 12 pick to the Detroit Lions’ pick at No. 6. Arizona gave up its second-round pick and fifth-round pick and received Detroit’s third-rounder in return.

The cost of moving up 50% of the order was essentially a fifth-rounder and moving down from the second round to the third round. That loss in value, and net loss in total selections, are why a move like this is completely unrealistic from a Bengals’ perspective.

Bengals haven’t traded up in the first round since last century

It really has been that long. Cincinnati moved up from the No. 5 pick to the No. 1 pick in the 1995 draft to select running back Ki-Jana Carter. The trade cost the Bengals their second-round pick, and Carter ended up suffering a torn ACL before his career even began. He was never the same after the injury, and Cincinnati has had buyer’s remorse ever since.

Should this fear persist for the rest of time? Probably not. Trading up in the first round happens every year and there are just as many success stories to note as failures. Avoiding it altogether prevents the latter, but it also suggests one of two things is true. The Bengals never feel that confident in their evaluation of a player to trade up for him, or the desire to have as many draft picks as possible outweighs any strong evaluation they could have.

Whatever the case may be, do not expect the Bengals to sacrifice multiple picks to land a slightly better selection in the first round.

Find your own draft trade opportunity with the A to Z Sports NFL Mock Draft Simulator!