When the Cincinnati Bengals traded the 10th overall pick to acquire star nose tackle Dexter Lawrence, the immediate thought among Green Bay Packers fans was the opportunity to bring back TJ Slaton. It turns out that’s not an unfeasible scenario.

With Lawrence in the mix, the Bengals could actually be open to trading Slaton during the NFL Draft this weekend.

Our beat writers Wendell Ferreira (Packers) and John Sheeran (Bengals) discuss what the compensation would be and how the teams can pull off a deal.

Why would the Bengals trade TJ Slaton

John: Slaton signed last year to be the starting nose tackle through 2026. The sudden arrival of Lawrence obviously changes that. There’s nothing wrong with Slaton as a rotational player in a suddenly deep defensive tackle room, but his salary is set to jump from $2.5 million last year to $5.72 million this year.

A $9.16 million cap figure for a player demoted from starter status is quite the number, and with the Bengals now low on cap space with an influx of contracts about to be added, his deal makes the most sense to offload. Cincinnati can stomach it with recent draft picks Kris Jenkins Jr. and McKinnley Jackson still in the fold, and recuperating a fifth-round pick after giving it up for Joe Flacco would be a win.

Why would the Packers trade for TJ Slaton

Wendell: The Packers have not had a solid nose tackle on the roster since trading Kenny Clark last year, but now this is more meaningful because the defense is getting back to a 3-4 base under Jonathan Gannon. And that’s something general manager Brian Gutekunst acknowledged in his pre-draft press conference.

“I do think there’s probably a little bit more of an appetite for a pure nose because some of the snaps we’re going to play are going to have that,” Gutekunst explained, “maybe we wouldn’t have had that with Jeff [Hafley].”

At this point, the Packers would have to play Javon Hargrave or Devonte Wyatt adapted at 1-tech — or a depth piece like Jonathan Ford, Warren Brinson, or Nazir Stackhouse. Getting a solid, established starting-level nose tackle makes sense.

Because the Packers traded Dontayvion Wicks to the Philadelphia Eagles for a 2026 fifth and a 2027 sixth, the team has extra draft capital to pull off the deal.

Simulated trade compensation

• Packers receive: NT TJ Slaton, Pick 189 (sixth-rounder)
• Bengals receive: Pick 160 (fifth-rounder)

Financial repercussions

With the trade, the Packers would absorb a one-year, $6.16 million contract that’s left on what Slaton signed last year in free agency. It’s a $5.72 million base salary, plus $440k between per-game bonuses and a workout bonus. That’s considering no adjustment would be made to the deal.

Meanwhile, the Bengals would have $2.5 million in dead money (the proration of Slaton’s signing bonus), and $6.66 million in salary cap savings.