The start of the 2017 NFL Draft is less than one month away, and the Cincinnati Bengals are looking to add several impact players to help them take another step forward next year, starting with the No. 9 overall pick. Here are all the latest Bengals draft news and rumors you need to know:
Cincinnati targeting Texas RB D'Onta Foreman
The Bengals are rumored to be looking to trade running back Jeremy Hill, and they may already be targeting his replacement in the draft. According to Gil Brandt of NFL.com, Cincinnati is one of the team most interested in Texas running back D'Onta Foreman.
RB coaches from DET, CIN, PIT at @TexasFootball pro day to see D'Onta Foreman. How he's built reminds me of Jerome Bettis coming out of ND. https://t.co/Cb6iXFp4h6
— Gil Brandt (@Gil_Brandt) March 28, 2017
The 6-foot-1, 248-pounder ran a 4.45 40-yard dash at his pro day and posted a 10-foot broad jump. As season, Foreman recorded 2,028 rushing yards on 323 attempts (6.3 yards per attempt) and 15 touchdowns.
Bengals may trade McCarron for draft picks
Cincinnati has also made backup quarterback A.J. McCarron available, and there is a chance that the Bengals trade him to the Cleveland Browns for more draft picks, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com.
With all coaches and GMs gathered together this week, expect more AJ McCarron-to-the-Browns buzz. It may become rather deafening if Browns head coach Hue Jackson can’t pry Jimmy Garoppolo away from Bill Belichick, his opposite number in New England. Of course, with Patriots owner Robert Kraft telling the media here Monday that Tom Brady has told him he's going to play six or seven more years, why wouldn't they move Garoppolo?
It’s believed trading a backup quarterback within the AFC North to a coach they greatly regard is rather distasteful to Bengals president Mike Brown. But given Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin’s pronouncement earlier this month that the Bengals will listen to anyone, Brown also appears to have a price.
What that is, who knows? There is one trade the Bengals would no doubt pull off with the Browns (and that's big since they've never drafted with their Battle of Ohio rival) and that’s swapping their ninth pick in the first round for the Browns’ 12th. This is the draft where everyone but No. 1 wants to move back from five on down.
McCarron didn't throw a pass last season after starting the final five games of the 2015 season - including a playoff game - throwing for 1,044 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions.
Mel Kiper has Bengals drafting UCLA OLB Takkarist McKinley
Cincinnati also has a big need at pass rusher, and ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. has them filling that need by drafting UCLA's Takkarist McKinley with the No. 9 overall pick in his latest mock draft.
The addition of free-agent middle linebacker Kevin Minter makes me think the Bengals won't take Reuben Foster, whom I had going to Cincinnati in Mock Draft 2.0. Pass-rusher is still in play, though, and McKinley is one of the most explosive in this class. At 6-2, 250, he's not huge, but he is suited to play end in today's NFL. Put McKinley in the rotation with Carlos Dunlap, Michael Johnson and Will Clarke, and the Bengals have a stellar foursome.
McKinley had 61 tackles with 18 sacks and three forced fumbles last season.
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