Bengals LB Germaine Pratt Requests Trade: Should Broncos Pounce?

The Bengals selected Pratt in the third round of the 2019 draft out of North Carolina State University. He's been a steady presence for the Bengals defense, earning 900-plus snaps every single season over the past four years.

While not a physical specimen in space, Pratt has the requisite size to hold up in the box at 6-foot-2 and 240 pounds. He accumulated a fair amount of tackles in Cincinnati this past season, racking up 107 total tackles, but he had a career-high 20 whiffed tackles that equated to a 12.7% missed tackle rate (tied for the 10th-highest rate amongst linebackers with at least 750 defensive snaps in 2024).

Pratt did have a career-high 53 run stops, but a lot of that was likely due to lacking talent up front and around him, meaning he was in a position to make more plays that on a good defense would have been halted earlier with an improved supporting cast.

Pratt also had a somewhat down season in coverage. Allowing the highest passer rating since his rookie season at 103.5 and surrendering 460 yards after the catch and 10.6 yards per reception (ranked 20th-worst and the third-most for linebackers with 750 defensive snaps, respectively).

Was this due to a drop in ability or rather the talent around Pratt being so deteriorated he was put in impossible situations? He only has one year left on his contract, and he'd cost the team acquiring him via trade just $5.6 million with just a $5.25 million base.

However, the Broncos have the cap space to play with and they lack a long-term investment and known quantity at linebacker in the wake of Alex Singleton’s season-ending ACL injury. Singleton is also entering the final year of his current contract, so the Broncos are probably better off shopping for a linebacker in a pricier range than what Pratt would bring to the table, even if he only cost Denver a sixth-round draft pick.

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