This should be a good trade for the next couple of years or at least 2026 IMO. Don't act like a trade needs to be for a superstar to be a good move. Any trade that makes us better than before the trade is a good move. We gave up a 7th rounder. Our LBer room needs a complete overhaul for next year. Is he worth $6M per for 2026 and 2027, I'm not so sure about that and am wondering if his salary is negotiated down a little, but we have a huge hole at LBer and in particular LBers who understand their roles in an NFL defense and can tackle. The Bengals had a couple of young kids they wanted to get on the field and were cutting Wilson after the season either way because they can't afford him and that is why he was benched. He can still tackle, has decent instincts and that's a skillset none of our LBers seem to have. Murray and Sanborn should be gone. James needs to learn his responsibilities on each play before he can be trusted. Liufau didn't take the jump forward this year I hoped. So that leaves us Overshown coming off another bad injury and question marks. We need LBers going forward and since we also need other positions there are only so many holes we can plug through the draft.
I just looked at the Bengals stats. Note that Wilson lost his starting job after week 5
Bengals YTD rushing yards against per game this year is the worst in the league at: 166 yard per game
But let's break it down a little further:
Bengals rushing yards against per game weeks 1-5 (games Wilson played FT): 132 yard per game
Bengals rushing yards against per game weeks 6-9 (games Wilson didn't start): 209 yard per game
That is a massive difference and last year they were in the middle of the pack in rushing yards per game allowed.. Is it because of Wilson I am not claiming, but if you are going to point to the Bengals defense stinking as the main reason to state a trade for a guy some of you probably seldom have even seen play as your reason at least know the specifics of that defense with and without him.
Also he has no guaranteed money left so at worst he costs us a 7th and whatever we pay him this year against the cap. I like this move. Not going to help this year but no trade should be judged with how it helps us this season. Also ticks Scotty's boxes of leader, good locker room presence, etc but honestly that is borderline meaningless to me. The only thing that matters to me is if he currently is one of our top 3 LBers and absolutely on run downs at least heading into next year and again ZERO dead money after this year on this contract.