Cincinnati Bengals Draft: Could the Team Trade Their No. 21 Overall Draft Pick?

In a seemingly innocuous tweet from the Cincinnati Enquirer's Joe Reedy, Reedy suggests that the Bengals could choose to trade their second of two first-round draft picks in order to grab even more picks in return.

As it stands now, the Bengals have nine overall picks, with two in the first, one in Rounds 2 through 4, two in Round 5 and one in each the sixth and seventh rounds.

That second first-round pick, which comes at No. 21, is a perfect bargaining chip for a Bengals team that has gotten more draft savvy in recent years. They could parlay that one pick into any number of additional picks, depending on the trade partner.

According to the NFL's Draft Value Chart, the 21st overall pick is worth 800 points. That means they could get another team's second-round pick, worth anywhere between 270 and 580 points, plus another third, fourth and/or sixth, leaving the Bengals with up to 12 picks depending on the value of their partner's draft positioning.

In my examination of Bleacher Report draft analyst Matt Miller's latest mock draft, I suggest that the Bengals nab Washington running back Chris Polk with their 17th overall pick, while Miller has the team choosing Polk at No. 21.

However, there's still a possibility that if the Bengals are as high on Polk as Miller and I both are, they could still nab him in the second round and won't miss that second first-round pick at all.

Besides, what's more enticing—a rookie running back in the late first round or a whole slew of draft picks, any one of which they can use to get another running back at a great deal of value?

The Bengals are in a good position to make this move.

They have more than enough cap space to accommodate such a large rookie class, and the combination of their ability to make a number of free agency acquisitions as well as bolster their already considerable draft pick haul could make this a banner year for Cincinnati—one that could serve to define the team for many seasons ahead.

There are a number of players who will fall to that 21st overall pick that the Bengals could certainly use, but the fact that the team has quite the ace up their sleeve with that second first-round pick makes trading it both extremely tantalizing and in the best interests of the team in the long term.

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