Duke Tobin on not trading out of first pick: “That’s news to me”

The 2020 NFL Draft is 93 long days away. That’s three months of convoluted speculation, conjecture, and everything in-between in regards to what the Cincinnati Bengals are going to do to kick things off with the first-overall pick.

The actual answer is not going to be as complicated as it may seem to be, but until then, here’s Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin commenting on the report that the team has no interest in trading away the first pick:

“That’s news to me.”

Over the past week, it’s been reported that not only are the Bengals locked in on staying at the top of the draft, but that they’re fully invested in drafting Joe Burrow with that pick.

That all happening seems to be a near inevitability, but Tobin knows better than to outright confirm it in late January.

”I don’t know that any decision has been made for what we’re going to do in April. We’re early in the process,” Tobin said. “We certainly haven’t had any meetings to determine that at this point. Those will be meetings we’ll have as we go through the process.”

The process will include finishing evaluations of Burrow, the other quarterbacks in this year’s class, and literally every other prospect. The Bengals do what they can with the staff they have, meaning sometimes, they come to the right conclusion later than most others.

The college football season just ended and the coaching staff is just now going over film of the top prospects. When offensive assistants Alex Van Pelt and Brian Callahan were asked about their initial impressions of Burrow, they couldn’t hide their excitement. What the rest of the football world already knows about Burrow, the team that will draft him is still getting acquainted with him.

Ownership, the coaching staff, and Tobin are all going to get there. Just wait on it.