Bengals’ Zac Taylor says a lot by saying little about trade offers for the No. 1 pick
All that talk about the Dolphins trying to move up to the No. 1 pick in the draft is irrelevant if the Bengals have no interest in moving down.
Cincinnati, like Miami, needs a quarterback.
And LSU quarterback Joe Burrow is the only one available with no medical red flags or inconsistent 2019 game tape.
So the real question isn’t whether the Dolphins — who have a league-high 14 draft picks — should want to trade for the No. 1 pick, but what use it will be to try.
Reporters covering the Bengals tried to get a sense of the team’s willingness to deal during a media availability with coach Zac Taylor Wednesday.
Taylor was cagey, understandably.
But he also was telling in what he didn’t say.
According to ESPN, a reporter asked Taylor if teams have made attempts to trade for the top pick.
His response?
“I’ve got no comment on that one.”
(Likely translation: Yes, they have.)
Taylor also suggested that the evaluation of Burrow and the other top prospects is done.
“There’s not much left to uncover,” he said.
That probably tells us one of two things: That the Bengals believe they have enough information on Tua Tagovailoa’s health to make a decision or that they’re not seriously considering drafting him.
If it’s the latter, it’s hard to see them trading out, considering they need a quarterback as badly as the Dolphins do.
Furthermore, Taylor pointed to the advantage of picking at the top of each round, given the potential glitches that will come along with the first-of-its-kind virtual draft.
Everything will be done remotely draft weekend because of coronavirus, and the Bengals will have most of the day Thursday, Friday and Saturday to get their affairs in order since they’ll pick at the top of the first, second and fourth rounds.
The Dolphins own the fifth, 18th and 26th picks in the first round.
This story was originally published April 8, 2020 at 3:51 PM.
