Approval Poll: Do you like Bengals trading Marquis Flower to Patriots?

The Cincinnati Bengals on Tuesday traded fourth year linebacker Marquis Flowers to the New England Patriots.

Doesn’t it seem like everyone just wants to trade with the Patriots? The reigning Super Bowl Champions have made far too many trades this year alone that have seen them improve.

Tight end Dwayne Allen, wide receiver Brandin Cooks, defensive end Kony Ealy (who's already off the roster) and multiple draft-day trades are part of what the Patriots have been up to this offseason. Now, we can add former Bengals linebacker Marquis Flowers to that list.

Flowers is entering the final year of his rookie contract after being selected in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft out of Arizona. Flowers appeared in every game as a rookie, including one start in an upset win over the Denver Broncos. That was his only start in Cincinnati though as he was used mostly on special teams during his three years with the Bengals.

Flowers totaled 1 pass defended, 1 fumble recovery and 7 tackles in three seasons in Cincinnati. Though, he only saw the field in two seasons as he was on Injured Reserve for all of 2015 due to a shoulder injury suffered during the Bengals' preseason finale that year.

The Bengals seemed to be ready to move on from Flowers in the final year of his rookie deal and instead of just parting him on Saturday when roster cuts are required, they ended up getting a seventh round pick to give him away.

It seems like a smart move from the Bengals who gave up a conditional seventh round pick earlier this year to trade for former Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Chris Smith. Smith seems nearly certain to make the 53-man roster after a terrific training camp and preseason. Now, the Bengals gained a great player in Smith, got back a seventh round pick, and only gave up a player who they already planned to cut.

It’s not everyday Bengals fans applaud the team for a smart move, but this looks like a truly smart move.

Flowers has had his head-scratching moments in Cincinnati, including this summer when he went too far trying to defend against quarterback Jeff Driskel in a drill where the players were specifically told "stay away from the quarterback". Instead, Flowers slapped a ball out of Driskel's hands with both of his hands and caused enough pain to the quarterback that Driskel was in disbelief and needed to spend a minute shaking off the pain.

There was also the time he tweeted in regards to a Bengals versus Steelers game that it was “time to witness mass murder”. This, while he was on IR in 2015. He later apologized for the ridiculously inappropriate tweet.

The Bengals made something (a seventh round pick) out of nothing (a player they planned to cut on Saturday) and it seems like a pretty savvy move by the Bengals, not just another team trading to make the Patriots better.

What do you think? Who won this trade?