Duke Tobin on Dexter Lawrence trade: Immediate impact was important to us
· Yahoo Sports
The Bengals didn't have a first-round pick last week because of the Dexter Lawrence trade and that means they missed out on the chance to add someone like safety Caleb Downs or edge rusher Rueben Bain to a defense that has underwhelmed in recent seasons.
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Those players could develop into long-term cornerstones for their teams and director of player personnel Duke Tobin called them "worthy guys" while discussing the trade at a Monday press conference. While they were worthy, Tobin said the Bengals did not "want to be reliant" on rookies starting right away and that getting a finished product in Lawrence was a better fit than developing a younger player.
"It's one of the attractive things about trading a 10th pick for an All-Pro," Tobin said, via the team's website. "You know exactly what you're getting. And you're getting immediate impact. That was something that was a big decision point for us. We get immediate impact instead of impact as we go. So that was important."
The Bengals added players like Boye Mafe, Jonathan Allen, and Bryan Cook in free agency, so the trend toward veterans began well before the Lawrence trade and it fits with a Bengals team that's trying to maximize their chances of winning in quarterback Joe Burrow's prime. The challenge now will shift to picking up those wins because Burrow's patience could run thin if the team falls short again in 2026.