The Cincinnati Bengals need some help at the defensive edges before the season and might use the waiver wire or even trades to make it happen.
It was no secret the Bengals entered 2024 wanting to keep Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard fresh for the entire season, but a season-ending injury to Cam Sample, the retirement of Jeff Gunter and a new injury for former first-rounder Myles Murphy has decimated the team’s depth.
Now, a name just cut by the Philadelphia Eagles might be able to provide that help.
Bleacher Report recently suggested the Bengals should strike up a trade with the Eagles for edge rusher Julian Okwara:
The Bengals would be wise to start scanning the league for teams that might be loaded at the position and willing to deal a player. The Eagles would qualify. Julian Okwara is only 26 years old and was a rotational pass-rusher in Detroit for three seasons.
Good news for the Bengals — they won’t even have to do that, as Okwara was one of the cuts just announced by the Eagles.
A 2020 third-round pick, Okwara has never played more than 40 percent of a defense’s snaps in a season and has tallied nine sacks over 38 games.
Okwara would indeed be the type of low-cost signing the Bengals might attempt to make in an effort to bolster the depth. Someone like late-round rookie Cedric Johnson might make the final roster, too, but more might be better early in the season as the team slowly brings back Murphy after the first month of action.
