Cincinnati Bengals Exploring Trade for Green Bay Packers Cornerback

The Cincinnati Bengals are one of three teams that have reached out about the possible availability of Green Bay Packers cornerback Carrington Valentine, per Easton Butler of Packer Report.

Pittsburgh and Miami are the other two interested parties.

Green Bay selected Valentine in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL Draft, and he has slowly developed into a starting cornerback for the Packers.

The Cincinnati native attended Archbishop Moeller High School before playing college football at Kentucky, where he started 25 games and recorded 119 tackles, 16 pass breakups and one interception. He has now started 30 games in the NFL, tallying 107 tackles, 18 pass breakups and two interceptions.

With Dax Hill and D.J. Turner entering contract seasons, the Bengals aren’t simply looking to add another contributor to the cornerback room — they’re looking to secure another dependable starter. The Bengals have made Hill and Turner important cornerstones of the defense, but with ongoing negotiations, their futures in Cincinnati are still up in the air.

Like Hill and Turner, Valentine plays on the outside, so having all three on the roster would result in a very crowded room filled with three players who all believe they should be a starter. If the move goes through, it would likely prompt the Bengals to move one of Hill or Turner before their contracts expire at the end of the year.

For Green Bay, the main concern would be getting enough in return to make the deal worth it. The Packers have struggled with cornerback play for the last few years, but they did add Benjamin St-Juste in free agency and drafted rookie Brandon Cisse out of South Carolina in the second round this year. So, it could be more likely they choose to move on from Valentine if they believe they have enough with their new additions and what they get in return.

With Valentine firmly slotted in as a starter and possibly even the top cornerback on the depth chart, the Bengals would need to offer more than they probably think to get this deal to go through.

It’s still very unlikely this trade goes through, but it could be something to monitor over the next few weeks heading into the regular season. It’s likely at least one of Hill or Turner stays with the team following this year, and the Bengals drafted Tacario Davis, who has had a strong training camp and could step into the role of the one who departs.