Christian Covington 'surprised' by trade to Bengals, Zac Taylor happy with deal
CINCINNATI — The Bengals traded linebacker Austin Calitro to the Broncos for defensive tackle Christian Covington on Friday.
Calitro wasn't going to make Cincinnati's final roster. Covington was in a similar position in Denver.
"That was a good deal for us," head coach Zac Taylor said Saturday. "You guys have seen the depth we’re working with at linebacker right now. We feel good about the guys that we ended up keeping there. When it works out to where you can add some depth to a group that you needed some depth at, we feel like it worked out for us. Happy for both teams.”
The Bengals were shorthanded at defensive tackle after Renell Wren suffered a potentially season-ending quad injury. They also replaced Josh Tupou, who opted-out, with veteran Mike Daniels. There are plenty of new faces in that defensive line room this season.
Covington is entering his sixth NFL season. He flew to Cincinnati on Friday shortly after the trade was processed.
"I took it as a surprise,'' Covington told Mike Klis 9NEWS in Denver. "I felt like I was having a great camp. But I understand this is our game, this is the business we're part of. I'm grateful for the opportunity Broncos gave me.
"The only thing that was mentioned was it was a numbers game. Very appreciative of coach Fangio, Mr. Elway, the Broncos organization for everything they've done for me. I wish I could've been here but at the same time I'm ready to move on."
Covington, 26, has played in 66 career games. He appeared in all 16 games for Dallas last season. He has 93 tackles and 8.5 career sacks.
He should have a regular role on defense behind Geno Atkins, D.J. Reader and Mike Daniels.
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