Bengals’ Logan Wilson Reportedly Requests Trade Ahead of Deadline Amid Reduced Role

One of the starters on the Cincinnati Bengals defense reportedly requested a trade Thursday.

According to ESPN’s Ben Baby, linebacker Logan Wilson asked for a trade after seeing his playing time decrease this season. While he has started in all seven of his appearances in 2025, rookies Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr. have cut into his opportunities.

Cincinnati selected Wilson with a third-round pick in the 2020 NFL draft, and he established himself as a starter and a key figure on the defense by his second season.

He entered the 2025 campaign with four straight years of 100 or more tackles, including last season when he tallied 104 tackles, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and a pass defended in just 11 games.

Wilson was named a team captain at the start of the 2025 season and figured to be one of the defense’s most important players.

But that has not been the case.

Baby noted he played 47.5 percent of the team’s defensive snaps in the most recent victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers after playing just 19.7 percent of the snaps in the previous game against the Green Bay Packers.

Despite not playing as much of late, it still hasn’t impacted his leadership role as a captain.

“It hasn’t changed our relationship at all,” Carter said. “I still lean on him heavily with stuff, still ask him questions every single day. He’s been a great leader, just like the man he is since the day I got here.”

Wilson is signed with the Bengals for two more seasons after the 2025 one, so honoring the request and trading him ahead of the Nov. 4 deadline would take away a defender the front office surely planned to have in the middle of the defense for multiple more seasons.

But those plans may have changed anyway with this year’s shift to younger players.