The Cincinnati Bengals’ trade for Dexter Lawrence is being scrutinized heavily by fans and analysts. On one hand, Cincinnati was able to get their hands on one of the best defensive players in the league, adding a key piece to a defense that was one of the worst units last year. On the other hand, though, they also gave up a top-10 pick in this year’s draft, a pick that could become a home run at a cheaper rate than what Cincinnati pays Lawrence.
While many detractors think that the Bengals might regret sending the 10th pick to the Giants, one rival general manager believes otherwise. Albert Breer spoke with a few GMs about the Dexter Lawrence trade. In his piece, Breer says that the Bengals assessed who would be available at pick #10 for them to choose and whether the player they’d pick had a mid-to-late round grade for them. A rival GM reportedly reached the same conclusion Cincinnati did: no defensive player in this draft was on the same level as Lawrence.
“There’s nobody of [Lawrence’s] talent in this year’s draft,” said one rival GM, per Breer. “I would take him over every defensive player in this draft.”
The Bengals are looking to win now. They’ve consistently had an offense that was able to win them games, but their defense was so abysmally bad that their efforts were wasted. Cincinnati could draft a player like Caleb Downs or Mansoor Delane in the first round, players with a high pedigree who could be instant contributors. While their potential is limitless, they are also massive unknowns in the NFL. They could just as easily flop, further derailing the playoff chances.
That, combined with Cincinnati’s track record when drafting defensive players in the first round, likely led to the decision to trade for a proven veteran instead. Lawrence is nearing 30 years old, but the last few years have shown that he’s still a high-impact player for a team. The hope is that with Lawrence in tow, he, along with the Bengals’ other free agent acquisitions, will help give Joe Burrow and the offense some much-needed support on the other side of the ball.
The post Rival GM’s NFL Draft take makes Bengals’ Dexter Lawrence trade a home run appeared first on ClutchPoints.
