Written by John Breech at CBS Sports.com
During the NFL combine back in February, the Bengals made it clear that they value AJ McCarron, and now, we have a good idea of just how much they value their backup quarterback.
According to Albert Breer of MMQB.com, the Bengals like McCarron so much that they turned down an offer of a second-round pick for him during the offseason.
Unfortunately, we don’t know which NFL team made the offer. However, we can probably assume it wasn’t the Broncos.
Rumor of us being interested in anyone other than the QBs we have is another example of irresponsible, fake news!!
— John Elway (@johnelway) August 9, 2017
If the Bengals had accepted the deal, you could certainly argue that trading McCarron for a second-round pick would have been a steal for Cincinnati. However, the Bengals ended up not making the move because that would have left them without a proven backup quarterback heading into the 2017 season. The team was also concerned that they would have to spend a draft pick to replace McCarron.
If the Bengals had pulled the trigger on a McCarron trade, it means they would’ve flipped a 2014 fifth-round pick for a 2018 second-round pick, which doesn’t seem like a bad deal.
That being said, if the Bengals weren’t willing to trade McCarron for a second-rounder, it likely means that he’s going to be in Cincinnati until his contract runs out.
Speaking of his contract, that’s actually a touchy issue right now.
McCarron’s four-year rookie deal is set to to expire after the 2017 season, but there’s one small catch: No one seems sure if he’ll be a restricted free agent or an unrestricted free agent.
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