The temperature around Trey Hendrickson never quite matched the headline heat, as an NFL rumor. Coming off a 3-6 face-plant versus the Bears, Cincinnati entertained calls but set a premium for its sack ace, consistent with earlier chatter that a top pick would be required.
The thinking was obvious: even with Joe Flacco patching the offense, shipping out the defense’s closer for a bargain would signal surrender. League interest was real, but the price to pry him loose was always the story.
Ian Rapoport reported the market’s ceiling and why it stalled, again as an NFL rumor. When talks got serious on Monday and Tuesday, no club offered more than a fourth-round pick for the 2024 sack champion, while the Bengals required a second to make numbers work, given his remaining $16 million base and the $13 million Cincinnati had already paid.
Health complicated the calculus, too, with Hendrickson recently missing time for a hip issue and teams unable to conduct a physical before agreeing on terms. In short, the offers never got close, per Rapoport’s NFL report.
That financial and medical blend explains the silence at the buzzer. A contender paying a second without the comfort of a physical is taking on both cap and risk. A seller accepting a fourth is lighting draft capital on fire relative to production. Cincinnati split the difference by keeping its leverage and its best finisher off the edge.
Zoom out, and the edge market never truly ignited. Clubs that were sniffing around pass rush help largely held serve, and Cincinnati’s stance shaped that. The Bengals’ internal math still leaves a sliver of runway in a muddled AFC North, and Hendrickson’s presence is the only way that sliver means anything on third and long.
ESPN’s read on Dallas underscores the dynamic. Jeremy Fowler relayed that teams believed the Bengals wanted a second for Hendrickson, and the Cowboys viewed that as steep. Dan Graziano added that once a less accomplished rusher fetched a third, passing on a second for Hendrickson looked defensible.
Add in Cincinnati’s rationale to avoid a white-flag move while still within reach of a flawed division, and the impasse tracks with football sense as much as finance.
Where it lands: Dallas preserved a high pick, Cincinnati preserved its closer, and the league will revisit the price in March when physicals, cap space, and patience are back on the table.
