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If one thing is clear after a week's worth of practices, it's that the Bengals are once again very deep at several positions. Instead of having to make some tough decisions on cutdown day, the Bengals coaches could make life easier on themselves by looking to trade some guys for daft picks or players at a position of need.
Over the next few weeks leading up to training camp, we'll take a swing and projecting some trades that could make benefit both the Bengals and the their potential trade partner.
Trade Brandon Tate to Carolina Panthers for sixth-round pick
This was actually Cody Tewmey's idea, and I love it. Tate is having a great camp, and frankly, when the Bengals have used him in the top 3-4 WR rotation, he's done ok.
In the first two games of 2012, Tate caught 4 passes for 74 yards and a 44-yard score. He slowly lost snaps to rookies Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu until Week 17, when Cincinnati was resting their top guys for much of the game against Baltimore. That game saw Tate catch 3 passes for 53 yards.
By no means is Tate a guy you want in the top 3 of you WR rotation. However, I would take him over Tavarres King, Kealoha Pilares and Marvin McNutt. Those are the projected 4th, 5th and 6th receivers for Carolina as of now.
It's no secret that Tate is a better returner than a receiver. The Panthers also lost their top returner, Ted Ginn Jr., to the Arizona Cardinals this offseason. This is also a big unknown for Carolina, and getting Tate would answer that.
It also helps that Tate was born in Burlington, North Carolina, then went on to play college ball at UNC. This trade would give him a chance to go back to the state where he's spent the majority of his life.
This move paves the way for Adam Jones and potentially Giovani Bernard to get more work on the return units. It would also ensure they don't have to cut a younger player with more upside like Cobi Hamilton or James Wright to keep Tate.