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The Cincinnati Bengals have a minor problem despite the 5-2 start: Trey Hendrickson is the only serious, consistent threat as a pass-rusher.
Could the Denver Broncos have the answer at the trade deadline with Von Miller?
Miller’s one of the most obvious trade candidates out there. He’s 32, in the final year of his deal, a major name and on a 3-4 Denver team with a rookie GM that might look to rebuild.
Granted, that $22 million cap hit is huge and the Bengals have roughly $8.6 million in cap space. But these things can get worked around easily — if the Bengals make a good offer (say, a third-round pick), the Broncos might be willing to eat most of that cap hit to make a deal work.
While Miller’s injury history after missing all of 2020 is a bit scary, he’s still got an 85.6 PFF grade for a reason. He has 4.5 sacks and eight or more in all but two seasons dating back to 2011, those two being seasons he missed many games.
The Bengals do have a lot of sacks this year, but it’s Hendrickson leading the way with 6.5. The next closest person has 4.0 (Sam Hubbard). Hendrickson has 23 pressures and Hubbard has 22, but Hubbard’s numbers were inflated last week. No other Bengals defender has more than nine pressures in seven games.
At 5-2, trading for Miller would be the sort of win-now move a serious Super Bowl contender that leads the AFC would make. That doesn’t mean they need to make it and should be discredited if they don’t, but it’s an option out there that would make a great defense even more dynamic over the course of a 17-game season and possible playoff run.
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