Cincinnati is unlikely to be able to afford all of those assets, but asked specifically about considerations for Higgins and Wilson during a pre-draft press conference Thursday, Tobin said the team isn’t going into the draft trying to find their potential replacements. The Bengals are “trying like heck” to try to keep as many of their productive players as possible.
“We try to maximize each year and so we do have a certain number of guys under contract for this year,” Tobin said. “Whether we can get them extended beyond that or not, the hope is that we could, but when we go into the draft we’re still cognizant of what is important not only this year but two years from now. We’re not a heavy-needs, like we’ve got to have a safety in the fifth round. We don’t do that. We let the fifth round come and see what the best players are, and then if there are like players and there always are, there always are two or three or four guys that we like, then we can pick the position that maybe best fits us right now or maybe into the future. We’re not jumping guys ahead of more talented players based on a position. It’s just something over the years that we haven’t done.”
Tobin also indicated that left tackle Jonah Williams’ request for a trade doesn’t change the draft plans either. Williams made his trade request public through his agent after Cincinnati signed Orlando Brown Jr. as its new left tackle in March.
The Bengals have said the plan is for Williams to be in the mix at right tackle, where La’el Collins’ future is uncertain coming off an ACL and MCL tear and the ability for the team to save cap space by cutting him. However, Williams was not seen in the locker room Monday during the time it was open to media for interviews and coach Zac Taylor said conversations with Williams will be kept in-house.
Tobin didn’t have much more to say on the topic.
“I don’t have any updates on Jonah,” Tobin said. “He’s a member of our team. He’s a valuable member of our team and if that changes you guys will be the first to know but right now that hasn’t changed.”
Cincinnati enters the draft next week in a good place with its roster, despite four significant contributors departing in free agency and a fifth, Eli Apple, still unsigned. Both starting safeties left, but the Bengals anticipated that possibility with the first-round selection of Dax Hill last year, and they signed Nick Scott in free agency. New tight end Irv Smith Jr. replaces Hayden Hurst, and Sidney Jones IV adds depth at cornerback, where Chidobe Awuzie, Cam Taylor-Britt and Mike Hilton return.
The running back spot is still in doubt with Samaje Perine’s departure and Joe Mixon’s future seemingly in the balance, but most of the needs otherwise seem to be in adding depth unless the Bengals see a better right tackle option than Williams or Jackson Carman available in the draft.
Tobin said the Bengals have enough flexibility at No. 28, they could even consider moving out of the first round, though they’ve traditionally worked through more trades in the middle rounds.
“It’s all hypothetical,” Tobin said. “You know, you’ve got to have somebody that wants to move in and so you’ve got to have a player there in somebody else’s mind of coming up and giving up picks or players or future picks for a guy. So, if he’s that good for some other team, maybe he’s good for you, too. So it’s all dependent how convicted are you on the guy that is available that you will be picking and how much you’re getting in return. But we’ll look at it if it comes up. But it’s all hypothetical right now.”
Teams are already in the process of feeling out who might be open to trading, and calls will be made leading up to the draft and throughout the event. Tobin said sometimes the Bengals answer and sometimes they don’t, but the only thing that matters is what happens in the moment as a pick is approaching.
Cincinnati has a list of players ranked on its board and will be ready to make the best pick at 28 until something changes that plan.
“It’s very hard for me to assess everyone else’s needs and what they’re going to do and who they like,” Tobin said. “We’ll have 28 guys ranked and we’ll be ready to go. We’ll have good options. We feel like they’ll be some good options for us. We just can’t control who it will be. But we’ll be ready no matter who goes ahead of us.”
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