Bengals Tuesday Trenches: Revitalization

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - APRIL 22: A general view of the Cincinatti Bengals sign in the tunnel during the NFL football draft at Acrisure Stadium on April 22, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Short and sweet today.

The last three seasons have been very hard for Bengals fans. Not ‘90s hard, but hard nonetheless.

After a trip to the Super Bowl and back-to-back conference championship appearances, the wheels fell off.

You can chalk up 2023 to injury—that one gets a pass—but there’s no excuse for 2024 or 2025. The front office let the roster stagnate, especially on defense, and it showed. The result? Joe Burrow’s MVP-caliber season and Ja’Marr Chase’s Triple Crown were wasted.

So heading into the 2026 offseason, it was hard to get excited. They added Boye Mafe and Brian Cook, but it didn’t feel like nearly enough. With their recent draft track record, it was tough to imagine the Bengals could build a defense capable of getting Burrow back to the playoffs.

And then they traded their first-round pick for Dexter Lawrence.

Even without fully addressing the linebacker or the lack of depth at corner, Lawrence’s presence will ripple through the entire defense. Picture Demetrius Knight and Barrett Carter playing cleaner, faster, freer with Lawrence commanding double and triple teams up front. That trickles down to the secondary, too—quicker reads, faster reactions.