The Cincinnati Bengals' 2025 season just went from bad to worse with linebacker Logan Wilson abruptly requesting a trade from the team.
Wilson formally requested a trade on Thursday, ESPN's Ben Baby reported. He has started each of the Bengals' first seven games and is fifth on the team with 41 tackles on the year.
Although he has remained in the starting lineup, Wilson's snap counts have lowered in recent weeks. After playing over 80 percent of the defensive snaps in four of the first five games, Wilson saw just 12 snaps in Week 6 and 26 in Week 8. His 19.7 percent Week 6 snap share was the lowest of his career since his rookie season.
Wilson, 29, has been with the team since they selected him in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He is currently in the second year of a four-year, $36 million extension that he inked in the 2023 offseason.
Without Wilson, the Bengals will further lean on rookies Demetrius Knight Jr. and Barrett Carter. Knight has 50 tackles through seven games, tied with safety Jordan Battle for the team lead.
Carter, whose steadily increasing presence has directly cut into Wilson's playing time, has 40 tackles on the year, including 22 over the last two weeks. The Clemson alum has played 100 percent of the defensive snaps since Week 6.
The Bengals do not have to immediately accede to Wilson's trade request, but his apparent discontent continues the concerning pattern within the team. Cincinnati has still not resolved its looming Trey Hendrickson situation, which remains just temporarily bandaged.
Behind Knight and Carter, second-year undrafted free agent Shaka Heyward is the only other linebacker on the Bengals' active roster. Heyward has just 10 tackles on the year, mostly on special teams. Joe Giles-Harris is the only linebacker on Cincinnati's practice squad at the time of Wilson's trade request.
This is a developing story.
