For a while today, I got the chance to chit-chat with Brian, the lead blogger at Buffalo Rumblings. He wanted to gauge the Bengals interest with Andre Smith, hoping that the offensive lineman would fall to the Bills with the 11th pick. However, there are sources that claim the Bills are interested in Smith. Like the 49ers speculation, the Bills would have to trade up to position themselves in front of Cincinnati. Scout NFL Network (via Scout.com) points out that the Bills are considering trading past the Bengals' sixth pick.
Rumors this time of year are pretty much dime a dozen, but we're hearing one that makes a lot of sense. A league source told Scout.com that the Buffalo Bills are considering trading up past No. 6 where the Cincinnati Bengals are selecting in order to pick University of Alabama OT Andre Smith.
As we speculated about the 49ers trade, this could greatly benefit the Bengals, or at the worst, force us to pick one of the other high-prospect tackles. However, the key is with whom the Bills would trade with. If it's the Lions, Chiefs or Browns, then there's a shot the Bengals won't have a shot at either of the top three tackles. Then again, there's a better shot that the Bengals could acquire Aaron Curry. It's all pre-draft fodder that's mostly entertaining for gossip.
Another interesting point is this. For all the holier-than-thou prima-donna draft analysts that compared Smith to a domestic terrorist after his suspension, combine and poor results during Alabama's Pro Day, it's rather telling to note that two teams are considering trading inside the top-five to acquire him, and several teams inside the top-ten could make a play on him.
Listen to what Dave Lapham had to say about Andre Smith Thursday afternoon. This is not an imbedded page; it will prompt you to play in a media player. So right-click on the link and Save As onto your desktop and then play it.
Here's another question for you: Even if Monroe or Jason Smith are available, do we still draft Andre Smith?