5 players the Cincinnati Bengals should trade before the deadline

4. DE Carlos Dunlap

Dunlap apparently showed up to the Bengals’ facility on Oct. 8, only to find himself not listed as the first-team left end on the depth chart for Week 5 against the Baltimore Ravens. His snap rates have fallen below 50 percent in each of the last two games. Dunlap referenced a lack of “common decency” in communication about his demotion (via ESPN’s Ben Baby).

“That’s crazy, right?” Dunlap said. “I mean, you would think common decency would be something like that. I mean, it’s not like I’m injured or anything. I’m not nursing anything. I’ve been blessed. Eleven years in the game. But I understand business, and evidently, this is the business they want to do.”

Dunlap is under contract through 2021, but there is no guaranteed salary left on his deal. Next year, he will carry a $13.5 million cap hit at 32 years old. His skills do not appear to have eroded (nine sacks in 2019, one sack and 18 total tackles so far this year), but the Bengals youth movement has suddenly diminished his role. With 82.5 career sacks, he is one sack shy of tying the Bengals franchise record.

A contending team would surely give up a draft pick, or maybe even a useful offensive lineman, too add Dunlap to its pass rush. He doesn’t appear to be pushing for a trade, but it’s easy to think he’d welcome a change of scenery.