Bengals have a GOLDEN opportunity...

The Cincinnati Bengals have a golden opportunity with this trade to fix concerns on their defense and shave off the contract of an underutilized player on their team. Welcome back into Bengals Digest, everyone. I'm your host, Adam Ignani. We appreciate you guys joining us here today. We've got an exciting one to get into today, talking about getting rid of a player that the Bengals really have not used to the full extent that they could this season. and although he has a little bit of production we're going to dive into you know why it might make sense to trade him away and get a piece that would actually benefit this team because let's face it I I personally still do think that this is a team they can make a serious run this year and maybe some of you are going to call it copium I don't know but I personally think that they can win this division and I think that they can make it to the playoffs so right now they're currently not looking good on Kalshi. They're not favored to win this. They've got a 24% chance. They are in second in the division in terms of what people are trading on Kalshi. But right now you see the Baltimore Ravens are favored 62% based on what people are trading. So if you use $25 to trade yes for the Bengals to win this division, you'll end up winning $98.87. And I just love Kalshi because the best part is you're trading directly against other users, not the house like a traditional sports book so you're buying yes or no contracts on real life events across sports politics even the weather so be sure if you're interested to click the link in the description below and use code digest nfl there on your screen to get 55 added to your account instantly when you trade your first 25 on Kalshi so today we dive in talking about a big move really that It's probably going to shock some people, but it could turn Shamar Stewart into a defensive fix. So we'll dive into the details of it and what this kind of looks like. This was originally brought to us by A to Z Sports, saying that a bold trade idea would give the Bengals a needed solution on defense and closure for the former first round pick, that first round pick being the aforementioned Shamar Stewart. and we know that there were some issues with injuries um and you know dealing with all of that this season we weren't really sure how he was gonna fit in to the depth that they have and right now it doesn't look like they're gonna use him a whole lot maybe they're saving him for later on in the season but it's kind of a mystery right now um and john sharon from a to z sports says that they have a problem and a mystery on defense right now and one trade could address both of those so looking at shamar stewart's numbers across three games he has three tackles in one sack pretty underutilized um even you know cedric has gone in there and made plays um at the edge spot and shamar stewart just says it's kind of been you know injury question marks um but honestly even when he was healthy, just not a whole lot of utilization. And so looking at the way his contract looks through 2028 on that rookie deal, um, you can see the numbers there this year, it's 4.3 million next year, it's going to be 5.2 and then 2028 going up to 6 million on that contract. So he isn't going to set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2029. So he's with them through 2028 as of right now. But, you know, would you guys make this trade? Would you be willing to trade? And I'll get into the details of who you'd be willing to give up. But first and foremost, I want to know if you guys, regardless of this package that I'm about to bring to you, would you be wanting to improve the defense in other areas by trading away a former first round pick who still holds a lot of value, but the Bengals really are not using a whole lot? Or do you think they keep developing him so he really has not played a whole lot for Cincinnati as I mentioned I mean one of the key things to look at here outside of a hustle sack on CJ Stroud and Cincinnati's Week Two win over the Texans he really has not been a factor up to this point in the season or really across his career if we're being honest and the question mark is this is he simply the worst of the five the edge rushers that they utilize or is he still not healthy enough to handle more than a handful of snaps in each game i mean that's honestly the big thing but he does hold value he's still 22 years old with former first round pick attached to his resume so there is kind of that you know there's a little bit of risk involved he's only 22 he was the 17th overall pick in 2025 and he still has a lot of athletic upside he's raw prospect that they picked up and you know i know a lot of Bengals fans are going to shake their heads at that you know always drafting these raw athletic prospects I like what we're seeing out of Cassius Howell and I think that right now the upside for him looks better than it does for Shamar Stewart um but that knee issue does kind of cloud how to read his role in this team and how they're utilizing him so there's a key player Drew Phillips from the New York Giants that could come in and fix the slot problem that the Bengals currently have in their secondary and so looking at the stats for him across five games this year he has 19 tackles and two sacks he doesn't have a pick yet but two of those sacks came in the same game and you know he can be impactful in different ways um jordan reynon says this the giants sent at least five rushers on 62 percent of jayden daniels dropbacks drew phillips finished with a pair of sacks and four pressures per next gen stats four pressures out of a corner playing nickel i i would love to see that on the bengals team if they could utilize him in the proper way i which i know that's a big if i i would love to see a corner who's getting in there and getting four pressures in a game i mean i think the pass rush is already pretty improved compared to last year for the bengals and that front four is looking pretty solid a lot of rotation going on there um so i think replacing shamar stewart with a guy like Drew Phillips honestly helps out your defensive line in a way. Phillips, a third round pick from the 2024 draft, has been New York's slot corner since his rookie season, and he's developed well, to be honest. He continues with this. He's allowed a 63.6 passer rating in coverage this season and has been a reliable tackler for most of his career thus far. And reliable tackler is something that perks a lot of ears up when you're talking about bringing in a secondary player for the Bengals defense. The cornerback depth for the Bengals is a little bit shaken up right now with injuries, so it does make this trade a lot more tempting, I really think. Cornerback depth is where the problem lies, according to John Sheeran. Nickelbacks Jalen Davis and Josiah Taylor are both on IR, which has forced Dax Hill to kick inside of the slot once again, which we've seen across his career. They have very few competent cornerbacks under contract through 2027. Phillips would give them one more. And we have Takario Davis, rookie this year, so that's got room to develop and stuff. But when you're talking about contract talks with DJ Turner and Dax Hill, I mean, they really don't have a whole lot going through 2027. So the Giants do value Phillips. We know that's clear. He's been starting since day one, as far as I'm aware. And it may take more than an inactive former first-round pick to prime. So it might take a little bit more when you're looking at the value comparison. So here is the trade proposition that we're going to bring up. Trading away Shamar Stewart, and that is all that they give up. And the Bengals will end up receiving Drew Phillips, a 2028 fourth round pick, and a 2027 sixth round pick. So cutting off a little bit of that cap, he is expected for two more years to remain under contract I believe it was and so you know when talking about contract negotiations you're going to be paying them a little bit less for a later round pick that Drew Phillips was and I think that this is a pretty solid deal for the Giants and the Bengals I mean the Giants that division's up for grabs so I'm not really sure if they're going to be sellers or buyers when it comes to the trade deadline but I really like the way that this lays out on paper and maybe the Bengals don't end up getting a fourth and a sixth in addition, I could honestly be okay with a straight-up trade Drew Phillips for Shamar Stewart, doing some sort of pick swap or something. Bengals, on the plus side, would be receiving their fourth-round pick back, and they would be getting a sixth-round pick from the Jags that the Giants currently have. So, I personally like this. I like this package a lot, but I think you have to choose a priority of what matters more at the deadline. Do you think it's A, getting the starting slot corner, or B, keeping Stewart's upside, kind of keeping the process of, you know, figuring out if he's going to pan out the way that they wanted him to? Recent comment on a video from Robert Carper said, the Bengals still get way too complacent, make way too many mistakes, and not enough coaching overall, not enough depth, and not enough good players in some cases. I think that in the case of the secondary, I think there's a very serious point to be made. They don't have the depth that they really need, and I think that was something we talked about in the offseason. They covered the front four, I should say. I was going to say front seven, but they really didn't touch linebackers. So depth in that case and in the secondary, I think they're a little bit weak. We had a couple pickups this offseason that I think were good at re-signing Jalen Davis and picking up Brian Cook, Kyle Duggar. but with the injury issues I think that the depth is really where the issue lies so curious if you guys agree with this sentiment hate to see the last part doubt they make the playoffs but at this point if they aren't going to make a move and the scheme issues don't get resolved I could see the same thing unfortunately although I do feel confident in them right now I think this is a move that they should make by the trade deadline let me know what you guys think down in the comments below and with all that being said thank you for joining us here today on Bagel Digest