Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson watched Cincinnati buck expectations this offseason, opening the vaults to extend their stud wide receivers. While it was nice to see as a spectator, though, he is still waiting for his own extension. After earning All-Pro honors and leading the league in sacks, he wants a new deal.
And the team seems much less incentivized to extend him than they were for Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. With the retirement of Sam Hubbard, Hendrickson is even more valuable to the Bengals, yet they have not shown strong indications of commitment to his future. In fact, certain comments from within the organization got him raising his eyebrow recently.
“I think he should be happy at certain rates that maybe he doesn’t think he’d be happy at”, Bengals executive Katie Blackburn said of Trey Hendrickson, via ESPN. “I think some of it is on him to be happy at some point, and if he’s not, you know, that’s what holds it up sometimes”.
Basically, she was saying that Hendrickson should be happy with what the Bengals are offering him—if anything. According to Hendrickson, the communication from the team has been sporadic at best, despite previous assurances.
“To read what I read yesterday was confusing, like it’s my decision”, Hendrickson said of the Bengals’ comments. He also called them disappointing to read, especially because the communication has been poor. But he also knows his worth, and the worth of the edge rusher position.
“With the market continuing to go up, I’m not going to apologize for that, because I’ve been basically asking for the same thing every year, to be solidified as a Cincinnati Bengal for life”, Hendrickson said. He noted that he would have been willing to sign a long-term extension two or three years ago. Since then, of course, the price has only continued to balloon, the market reset by Myles Garrett.
Despite putting up comparable statistics, Trey Hendrickson has generally not been spoken of in the same context as Garrett, T.J. Watt, and Micah Parsons as the greatest pass rushers in the NFL today. He hasn’t been far from the conversation, though, and it’s not like he isn’t well compensated.
In relation to Blackburn’s comments, Hendrickson noted some things he wasn’t willing to agree to. He didn’t want to play on a short-term deal. He also said that he didn’t want an incentive-laden contract, which may hint at where the Bengals are with him.
The obvious priority this offseason for the Bengals was to lock up Ja’Marr Chase. If they managed to cement a pact with Tee Higgins along the way, all the better. Despite the struggles on the defensive side of the ball, however, they haven’t prioritized their relationship with their best pass rusher, Trey Hendrickson. Having already consented to allow him to seek a trade, how will this end?
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