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Arguably the biggest story of this offseason for the Cincinnati Bengals has been the contract situation of superstar defender Trey Hendrickson. At one point, it seemed that Hendrickson was likely to be traded, but now, fans are waiting to see whether the team will give him the new contract he is seeking.
Hendrickson has not been in attendance for Bengals training camp so far this summer, and recently, ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler provided an update on the negotiations between the two sides.
“Trey Hendrickson remains in Florida. They are at an impasse,” said Fowler during an appearance on ESPN, per his account on X, formerly Twitter. “He wants a multi-year deal, but he also wants guaranteed money with that structure. The Bengals are comfortable with a lot of that. In fact, they have some of this deal essentially done. The Bengals are not willing to meet the player at the guaranteed money.”
The Bengals' ownership group has long been known to be one of the most notoriously cheap in the NFL, letting premium talent walk out the door to more hungry franchises over the years, and Bengals fans are certainly hoping that history doesn't repeat itself on the Hendrickson front.
A key piece for the Bengals
The Bengals defense was far from a strength in 2024-25, but one of the only things that kept it from truly freefalling last season was the play of Hendrickson, who has recorded 35 sacks over the last two seasons, making him one of the best overall players in the NFL.
The Bengals still have an elite quarterback in Joe Burrow and a talented wide receiver room led by Ja'Marr Chase, but unless the team's defense can put together something competent, it's very difficult to envision the Bengals making it back to their Super Bowl heights of 2021.
As previously noted, even with Hendrickson performing at an elite level last season, the Bengals' defense overall was still a weakness. However, it's safe to say that Bengals fans would much rather have Hendrickson around than watch him walk out the door for nothing.
