Bengals remain unfazed by Dolphins’ attempts to trade up, per report

Had the Miami Dolphins allowed the Cincinnati Bengals to complete an improbable comeback in Week 16, we wouldn’t be *STILL* having this conversation. But alas, here we are.

Like the Bengals, the Dolphins clearly have Joe Burrow as their top quarterback in this year’s NFL Draft class. The Dolphins clearly want to have the opportunity to pick Burrow as well, and they’ll have to trade spots with the Bengals to do so.

According to ESPN NFL insider Dan Graziano, talks have continued between both teams but the Bengals have given no indication they’re willing to move out of the top spot.

“I am told the Dolphins would like to go up and trade for that No. 1 overall pick and take Joe Burrow who they see as the No. 1 quarterback in this draft,” Graziano explained on ESPN’s Get Up. “But I’m also told that at this point, the Bengals have given no indication that they’re willing to move out of that pick; that they intend to sit there at No. 1 and take Joe Burrow.”

This is my shocked face.

Like any Sunday on a football field in the fall, anything can happen in the draft. But you can write this in sharpie: the Bengals will not trade down from the first-overall pick unless the compensation is nothing less than an unprecedented amount of value. The Ricky Williams trade, which they declined by the way all those years ago, might not even be an apt standard in this scenario.

Everything about Burrow to the Bengals makes perfect sense. Literally everything. To rehash it all for you would be insulting. For the Bengals to give that up, it would take an offer the Dolphins would never consider making.

They’ll surely be trying to get close to that mark over the next two weeks, but don’t sweat it. They won’t be able to name a price high enough for the Bengals to move.