Will Bengals Trade for Hayden Hurst Before Deadline?

It sounds like the veteran tight end wants to come back to Cincinnati.

Author:
James Rapien
Publish date:
Oct 26, 2023 9:00 AM EDT

In this story:

CINCINNATI — Hayden Hurst signed a three-year, $21.7 million contract with the Carolina Panthers in March. He was one of the few free agent tight ends to sign a multi-year deal.

Guys like Dalton Schultz and Mike Gesicki signed one-year contracts because the tight end market came to a halt early in free agency.

Hurst has 14 catches for 116 yards and one touchdown. The Panthers are also 0-6. He would love to return to Cincinnati according to his mom, Cathy Hurst.

"Thank you for the love Bengals Captain," she tweeted. "Hayden would love to come back and help the Bengals offense."

The trade deadline is Tuesday, Oct. 31 at 4 p.m. ET. While adding Hurst would give the Bengals tight end room a boost, it appears unlikely at this time. The veteran has a cap hit of over $10 million next season. A big reason why they didn't re-sign Hurst or C.J. Uzomah the previous year was because they didn't want to spend those type of resources on either guy.

That doesn't mean they don't like Hurst as a player. Of course they'd love to have him on the team for the right price. Given where the tight end market is, what Hurst signed for and what he's set to make, it's hard to envision a scenario where the Bengals make a deal for him.

Adding a tight end like Hunter Henry or Gesicki is far more likely because they're in the last year of their respective contracts. Regardless, it's cool to know that Hurst would love to return. Maybe he'd be willing to re-work his contract. It's still hard to see a scenario where the Bengals would want to give up assets for a 30-year-old tight end beyond the 2023 season.

Despite that, plenty of fans want to see him back in stripes. We'll see if it happens before Tuesday's deadline.

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