The Cincinnati Bengals had plenty of reasons to trade for Dexter Lawrence while sacrificing the No. 10 pick in the NFL draft.
Years of poor drafting and defensive woes were chief among those concerns. How the NFL draft board projected to shake up at No. 10, as well as how well elite interior defensive linemen like Chris Jones hold up as they age, are others.
Of course, the widely agreed-upon biggest reason is keeping Joe Burrow happy. That’s especially fair and true for a franchise with the ghost of Carson Palmer in its past.
But Dan Patrick took it a step further on a recent episode of his show, saying that a source told him Burrow effectively gave the Bengals an ultimatum.
“I was told Joe Burrow is the one calling the shots in Cincinnati,” Patrick said. “…From what I’m told, Joe Burrow said to management, ‘you gotta do something defensively or I’m out of here.’ I was told this morning by a source, who said that Joe has given them an ultimatum.”
Patrick cited Burrow’s desire for the Bengals to keep both Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins as evidence, plus his public support for Trey Henrickson over the years, in addition to the sourced report.
But this takes it a step beyond, outright suggesting Burrow is throwing around demands and the Lawrence trade is a result.
It’s a tough sell. The Bengals front office doesn’t need demands to know the severity of the hole it’s in with Burrow and the fanbase.
And it feels like the Bengals were going to naturally reach this point. They have in the past, quietly: After years of failure to properly draft and develop offensive linemen, they threw up their hands and went and paid up big for guys like Orlando Brown. Now, they’re doing the same after failing for years to replace Jessie Bates and DJ Reader. If they can’t draft and develop, let someone else do it, then pay the tax via big contracts, right?
Burrow is, of course, certainly applying pressure in some fashion. But the specific NFL draft outlook at No. 10 and Lawrence’s one-of-one status amongst nose tackles in the NFL means the Bengals didn’t need Burrow pounding the table for a blockbuster move.
