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The Cincinnati Bengals will be under immense pressure to succeed during the 2025 NFL season. Cincinnati got off to a slow start in 2024 and it ended up costing them a playoff spot. Now the team has a plan for the 2025 season that will hopefully get them off to a hot start.
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said on Wednesday that Cincinnati plans to play Joe Burrow more during the preseason, per Ari Meirov.
The Bengals have notoriously started the regular season slow during the Zac Taylor/Joe Burrow era. Cincinnati hopes that getting Burrow involved more during the preseason will help solve that issue.
Cincinnati has lost the first two games of the regular season in three consecutive seasons. The 2024 season was the worst of the bunch, beginning with an inexcusable loss against a bad Patriots squad. Then the Bengals lost close games against the Chiefs, Commanders, and Ravens with one cupcake win against the Panthers.
The Bengals have started slow with Joe Burrow at quarterback. But once they heat up, they've been electric.
Now if Cincinnati can get its defense figured out, they'll be set up well to compete during the 2025 NFL season.
Where do the Bengals stand with edge rusher Trey Hendrickson?
But Joe Burrow cannot get the Bengals to the playoffs by himself. The team proved that during the 2024 NFL season.
The Bengals need their defense to play even better in 2025 if they want to make a deep playoff run. But that could be extremely difficult without Trey Hendrickson.
Hendrickson did not report to Bengals training camp and instead is training at his home in Jacksonville, Florida.
“Hendrickson didn’t want to hear the practice whistles while being a distraction to his teammates, so he and his wife Alisa decided to pack up and head to Florida. Down in Jacksonville, Hendrickson continues to train, hoping that a deal can be worked out,” The Athletic's Dianna Russini wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday.
Cincinnati reportedly made Hendrickson an offer at $28 million per season, which is less than other top edge rushers. Myles Garrett, T.J. Watt, and Maxx Crosby have all been paid in the $35 – $41 million range.
Hendrickson is unwilling to accept such a steep discount, especially after back-to-back 17.5-sack seasons.
“I was more than willing to take less in some ways in order to make this work,” Hendrickson told Russini.
Cincinnati is also in a contract dispute with first-round rookie Shemar Stewart, which ratchets up the pressure on the whole situation.
Hopefully the Bengals can resolve both contract disputes as soon as possible.
