One day after reports emerged that John Ross was on the trading block, the Cincinnati Bengals denied that their 2017 first-round pick is up for grabs.
"We've had no discussion about John Ross," Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin said Wednesday, per Pro Football Weekly. "That's from 'ready, fire, aim' school of journalism."
Sources told NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport on Tuesday that the Bengals were shopping Ross.
New Bengals coach Zac Taylor expressed excitement over having Ross in the building.
"I'm excited to work with John," Taylor told reporters. "He's a guy that you can move around and do a lot of things with, so he's got a very bright future with us and we're very excited to work with him. I know football's important to him. He's got a lot of traits that we're excited to work with.
"We'll find ways to get the most out of our players. That's the number one thing on offense and defense is find what our players do best and put them in position to be able to do that more time than not. Everything I've heard about John is that football is important to him He's ready and willing, so I can't wait to get a chance to work with him first-hand."
Drafted ninth overall in the 2017 NFL Draft on the strength of a record-breaking 4.22 40-yard-dash, Ross missed most of his rookie year due to injury, failing to record a single reception. In 2018, Ross bounced back somewhat, tallying seven touchdowns on just 21 receptions for 210 yards over 13 games played.
Ross is due around $5 million in base salary over the next two seasons.
