With the Cincinnati Bengals taking care of wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, the attention now turns to edge rusher Trey Hendrickson, who previously requested a trade this offseason, but the franchise is trying to extend him as well. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport spoke on where the Bengals stand with Hendrickson.
“The Bengals do not like letting good players leave the building,” Ian Rapoport said on The Pat McAfee Show. “Even if it's for a huge draft pick, they don't like it. They like to develop, draft, sign their own guys. I think that they geet annoyed that people think that they don't sign their guys. So Hendrickson is awesome, I think he deserves a lot of money. I think his next contract is going to be above $30 (million). Is it going to be like Maxx Crosby? I don't know, but it's going to be above $30 (million). I think, not I think, I know the Bengals are working on it. I know they would like to keep him in the building, they would like to pay him, and I think they would like people to stop saying why don't the Bengals pay their guys, because they do.”
Related Cincinnati Bengals NewsArticle continues below
It is apparent that the Bengals are trying to keep all three of their star players, and they have done so with two already in Chase and Higgins. They want to buck the narrative that they do not retain their players. However, the critique of the Bengals has been that they wait to extend their players, resulting in bigger contracts. This is a similar critique that is thrown at the Dallas Cowboys due to their waiting to extend players like CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott. They are in the process of trying to extend Micah Parsons as well.
It will be interesting to see if the Bengals are able to get an extension done with Hendrickson at some point this offseason to keep their team intact.
a]:text-link [&_>a]:underline">Ryan Bologna is an experienced sports writer covering the NFL, MLB, and NCAA Basketball for ClutchPoints. He studied journalism and communication at UConn, and has bylines at New York Sports Nation and the Greenwich Free Press.