ABOUT THIS EPISODE
On today's show, we react to the Cincinnati Bengals embarrassing themselves in front of the NFL after they backed out of a trade when they realized it was likely going to cost them a 3rd round compensatory pick. Plus, Kirk Cousins is headed back to Minnesota; NFL deadline winners and losers and reaction to the new college football playoff rankings.
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The Cincinnati Bengals managed to turn the 2026 NFL trade deadline into a comedy of errors, and frankly, it’s difficult to defend what happened in their front office.
On Tuesday, November 10, Cincinnati appeared to have reached an agreement with the Philadelphia Eagles to acquire defensive end Arnold Ebiketie for a 2027 sixth-round draft pick. It looked like a sensible move. The Bengals needed pass-rush help, Ebiketie offered some rotational depth, and Cincinnati is supposedly serious about making a Super Bowl run.
Then somebody checked the fine print.
Nick Korte, a compensatory-pick expert at OverTheCap, pointed out that acquiring Ebiketie would actually cost Cincinnati considerably more than a sixth-round selection. Because Philadelphia had signed Ebiketie as a compensatory free agent, bringing him to Cincinnati would have counted against the Bengals' compensatory-pick calculations.
The consequence? Cincinnati stood to lose a projected third-round compensatory pick in 2027, earned through Trey Hendrickson's departure to Baltimore.
Suddenly, that supposedly inexpensive trade was effectively costing the Bengals a sixth-rounder AND a third-rounder. The organization pulled the plug roughly 90 minutes after the deal was reported.
Here's the real embarrassment: why wasn't this identified BEFORE agreeing to the trade?
This is precisely the kind of homework an NFL front office is supposed to do. Cincinnati has an entire personnel operation, scouting department and salary-cap staff. Yet it apparently took a specialist posting on social media to prevent a potentially disastrous transaction.
But there's a bigger issue. Cincinnati is 6-2, has an elite offense and legitimate championship aspirations. Meanwhile, competitors such as Buffalo, Kansas City and Jacksonville strengthened their rosters.
The Bengals walked away without adding meaningful help to a defense that needs it.
Ultimately, saving the third-round pick was absolutely the right decision. But needing Twitter to explain the financial consequences of your own trade is unacceptable.
The Bengals didn't lose a third-round pick yesterday. They nearly gave one away because they apparently hadn't done their homework. That's the real blunder.
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