Since 2022, the Cincinnati Bengals have had disappointing season after disappointing season. 2025 was the worst, finishing 6-11, and although Joe Burrow’s injury was definitely a major factor in that record, the Bengals’ actions before the season were a clear sign this season was not going to go well.
The Bengals need a trajectory-changing offseason, and according to a former NFL offensive lineman, one trade could do it.
Bengals Legend Presents Trade Idea as a Potential Game-Changing Move for Cincinnati
Although the Burrow injury did derail the Bengals’ season, entering the season, the signs were there that this year was not going to be Cincinnati’s. Star EDGE Trey Hendrickson was still dealing with contract disputes with the Bengals, and although it resulted in a pay raise for 2025, Cincinnati did not commit long-term to him.
Before this conclusion of the dispute, the Bengals selected EDGE Shemar Stewart, a boom or bust pick, in the first round. He can be a Hendrickson replacement, but in a twist of fate, the team had another contract dispute on their hands. Stewart sat out of practice while his contract was being negotiated.
Just like with Hendrickson, Stewart was signed, but both players were injured throughout the year, and now, the veteran star is set to leave in free agency.
With Stewart still being such an unknown and Hendrickson likely leaving, the Bengals need to find their next game-changing EDGE rusher, and Bengals Legend Andrew Whitworth has one idea: Las Vegas’ Maxx.
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“If it’s trading for Maxx Crosby, and something that can be, man, really needing picks. Obviously, that would be a lot of capital to try to figure out how that would work out,” Withworth said.
“But that would be the young guy, tone setter, the example for your defense every single day. You got some d lineman there that are young guys who you want to play better, put one of the hardest playing, best guys that any young d lineman could follow in the world, in Maxx Crosby, around them. Pay him the money, spend the draft pick, the 10th pick, send it if you have to. Put the example in the room.”
Last season, per PFSN’s EDGE Impact Metric, Crosby was the second-best EDGE in the league, and the year before, he was the best. In his career, Crosby has made five Pro Bowls and has been named to the AP Team twice. Still only 28, he is one of the most valuable assets on the trade market, and with the Raiders starting a rebuild, the right offer might make it happen.
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If the Bengals want to get back to their winning ways, as Whitworth said, this move could be the one to make it happen.
