As the Bengals began to stretch into Tuesday night's practice under the Paycor Stadium lights, one of the Bengals' more prominent players asks a team staffer, "How do you pronounce the name of the new running back?"
That would be Kahlil (Kaa-LIY-L) Herbert. Such is life in the NFL on a trade deadline day suddenly followed by a Thursday night kickoff (8:15-Cincinnati's Channel 9, Amazon Prime) in Baltimore.
But as his new teammates are just getting to know him (quarterback Joe Burrow meets him 30 seconds before ducking into his Tuesday presser), the Bengals personnel department had been looking at Herbert's name for weeks. Well before running back Zack Moss suffered a season-ending neck injury.
On this Election Day of "Magic Walls," and "Big Boards," there is director of pro personnel Steven Radicevic's "Busy Board." It's in his office, a white board that stretches out to the entire league. Like the leaves and grass, you can tell what time of year it is just by looking at the landscape.
As the trade deadline began to approach weeks ago, potential veterans popped up on the board on a short list under corresponding positions of need. For instance, when rookie Erick All Jr. was lost for the season last Sunday, the tight end position became a quick add.
Under the initials of various personnel department staffers is each one of the 31 teams as they analyze rosters and tape while also calling their assigned teams to feel them out.
Even as Herbert takes his physical and is handed his playbook iPad, Radicevic and director of player personnel Duke Tobin are still trying to beat the 4 p.m. deadline with other potential deals.
"Sometimes it comes together where there's a need and there's an opportunity," Tobin says. "Sometimes you have a need and there are no opportunities. Sometimes there are opportunities and you don't have a need."
Reports have the Bengals linked to several defensive tackles. A defensive tackle is always on the list, but there seem to be a lot of "Nos," throughout the league. A D-tackle doesn't move until right near the deadline, when the 49ers pick up the Texans' Khalil Davis for a seventh-round pick two years from now. The little-used Davis, a sixth-rounder from 2020, goes to his fifth team.
"There are so many things that go into trading for a player," Tobin says. "How's he played? How many places has he been? What system has he been in? Has he been productive? Does he do what we want him to do? Is the need great enough to give something for the short term?
"There are a million pieces out there when you look at trading for a guy. And sometimes there just isn't anyone out there on the trade end and it's better on the free-agent market or the practice squad."
Plus, there is their own roster with several young players they already like at such positions as edge, where there is 2023 first-rounder Myles Murphy and this year's sixth-rounder Cedric Johnson, a guy who hasn't played much but does something they like every time he does.
"The fact is," Radicevic says. "Teams don't want to give up good players."
But Herbert, they believe, is one of those good players that fits nicely into one of Tobin's opportunities. A productive player with one team in the last year of his rookie deal.
When the Bengals visited the Bears for a training camp practice and preseason game back in August, they saw the impact on the Chicago depth chart of signing D'Andre Swift in the last free agency period and the 2023 drafting of Roschon Johnson in the fourth round.
After taking Herbert in the 2021 fifth round and using him often in his first three seasons, the Bears basically put him on the shelf. They made him inactive the last two weeks and gave his agent permission to seek a trade.
Herbert even has a suitcase packed ready to go even though he didn't know if he would go. After Tuesday night's practice, the bag is in front of his locker, and it has been such a whirlwind he's not sure what's in it.
"I had heard rumblings about Cincy and my agent texted me this (Tuesday) morning that it was done," Herbert says. "I had a bag packed. I didn't know when or what would happen. I had faith it would get done. Glad to be here."
Last week, Radicevic checked in again with Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham on Herbert. The Bengals have been looking at adding a running back ever since training camp broke with the two regulars, the free-agent pickup Moss and sophomore draft pick Chase Brown, as well as vet special teamer Trayveon Williams and Kendall Milton, an undrafted rookie added to the practice squad after camp.
"A little thin," Radicevic says.
Then when Moss surprisingly surfaced with his neck injury last Friday morning, urgency took over. The calls continued throughout the weekend, until the Bears called timeout and said they'd re-visit Monday after gauging their health at the position following Sunday's game.
When Swift and Johnson emerged unscathed from the loss in Arizona, Radicevic and Cunningham hooked up Monday morning and Tobin and Bears general manager Ryan Poles texted the final terms Tuesday morning with the compensation: A 2025 seventh-rounder. A match, they feel, for a player they need for the last eight games.
Looking at the other backs on his board, Radicevic says Herbert is "a better fit in terms of how we can make it fit. He's coming in on the last year of his deal. He's young (26), he's still got a lot of juice in his legs … We liked him coming out of the draft. High character. Good production in Chicago. Well-liked in the locker room."
Herbert is a different style of player than Moss, a guy they are really enthused about in the pass game as a protector and check-down artist. A younger, better version of Samaje Perine, they sense.
They see Herbert more in the mold of Devin Singletary, a 5-7 workhorse. But they also like Herbert's career 45 catches, his diligence in pass protection, and vision that has yielded a career 4.8 yards per attempt out of the same shotgun formation the Bengals use frequently. When he led the NFL with 5.7 yards per carry on 129 carries two years ago, he was rated in the top five of NFL Next Gen Stats' most efficient running backs.
And the fact he's only carried eight times this season has Herbert upbeat this mid-season Tuesday night.
"Fresh. I'm fresh," says Herbert, who brings in 372 career carries. "I've been waiting patiently. I'm ready to go. Grateful for the opportunity."
But is he too fresh to get ready for a primetime game with a new team in just 48 hours? Burrow and head coach Zac Taylor say no. After spending all day in running back coach Justin Hill’s office, Herbert agrees.
"Thursday's irregular, but never like this," he admits. "I'm just learning some new language. (Burrow) says he's going to help me. He has been helping. I've still got two more days to get it down."
With the clock ticking past 8 p.m. on the longest day of his NFL career, Herbert isn't sure when he'll arrive at his hotel room. He still has to meet with special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons.
"Good question. But we've got a late day tomorrow," Herbert says.
Which is another travel day. Herbert isn't quite sure what he'll wear on Wednesday's charter flight.
"I can't really remember what I packed," Herbert says. "I think I threw in a couple of drawers and maybe an outfit for Thursday."
He'll have the weekend to get back to Chicago and get the rest of his wardrobe. After a dizzy day, the Bengals believe they found a fit for the rest of the way.
