Bengals' trade of first-rounder leaves team with seven NFL draft picks
When then-president Paul Brown traded the Bengals' first-round pick in 1989, the team had struggled to sign its first-rounders of previous years.
The Cincinnati Bengals traded their first-round pick (10th overall) in the 2026 NFL Draft to the New York Giants for three-time Pro Bowler Dexter Lawrence . Barring another trade , the Bengals won't make a first-round pick in the draft for the first time since 1989, and just the second time in franchise history . In 1989, the Bengals traded their first-round slot to Atlanta for the Falcons' picks in the second, fourth and 10th rounds.
"This maintains my image of being cheap," then-Bengals owner and president Paul Brown said with a laugh, per UPI's Rick Van Sant . The Bengals had encountered issues with signing first-round picks in previous drafts. The Lawrence trade is the first time the Bengals have traded a first-round pick for a current player.
ESPN's Adam Schefter reported April 18 the Lawrence trade is the first time in the common draft era (dating back to 1966) in which the Bengals have traded a Top-10 pick for a player. Schefter also reported via Twitter/X that it's the first time any NFL player has been traded without any additional compensation for a haul that included a Top-10 pick in that year's draft since the Minnesota Vikings traded Randy Moss to the Raiders in 2005 for a package that included the 7th overall pick in the 2005 draft. Cincinnati Bengals' 2026 NFL Draft picks Round 2: Pick 41 Round 3: Pick 72 Round 4: Pick 110 Round 6: Pick 189 Round 6: Pick 199 Round 7: Pick 221 Round 7: Pick 226 This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Bengals' trade of first-rounder leaves team with seven NFL draft picks