In this offseason series, Athlon Sports' Doug Farrar asks the One Big Question for all 32 NFL teams — the primary discussion point that will measure ultimate success (or not) for every franchise. We continue our AFC North discussion with the Cincinnati Bengals, and their cross purposes in retaining their best offensive players while needlessly antagonizing Trey Hendrickson, by far their most valuable asset on the defensive side of the ball. Can this historically penny-pinching organization put it all together for the ultimate success of the team?
In a lot of years, the Cincinnati Bengals' One Big Question would either be whether Joe Burrow can stay healthy, or whether Cincinnati's offensive line can protect him at an NFL-neutral level. That was not the problem for the 9-8 Bengals in 2024; Burrow was healthy and at his best. He led the NFL in completions (460), passing attempts (652), passing yards (4,918), passing touchdowns (43), and won the Comeback Player of the Year award after a 2023 season in which he missed seven games.
The Bengals made sure that Burrow kept his best targets, giving Ja'Marr Chase a four-year, $161 million contract extension with $73.9 million guaranteed in March, and doubling down with a four-year, $115 million deal with $30 million guaranteed for Tee Higgins a few days later.
These are unusually proactive moves for a Bengals organization that has long been known as one of the NFL's most parsimonious. And while that's the good news, the not-so-good news is what's been happening with Cincinnati's defense.
Last season, it really went south under former defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo. The Bengals ranked 27th in Defensive DVOA, after falling from seventh in 2022 to 23rd in 2023. The pass defense wasn't a total disaster — Cincinnati allowed an opponent completion percentage of 64.9%, which was 12th-best in the NFL, and an opponent passer rating of 92.2, which was middle of the pack — but the 30 passing touchdowns allowed? That was the NFL's third-most.
Really, it was the imbalance of the pass rush that became the primary problem. There was edge-rusher Trey Hendrickson, and then, there was everybody else. Hendrickson, the eighth-year man from Florida Atlantic, put together his best season to date with 18 sacks, 16 quarterback hits, 49 quarterback hurries, 19 tackles for loss, and two forced fumbles. If we're counting the regular season alone (obviously, no postseason for the Bengals in the 2024 season), there wasn't a better quarterback disruptor in the NFL than Hendrickson.
And this was no one-year wonder. Hendrickson signed a four-year, $60 million contract with the Bengals in 2021 that gave him $16 million guaranteed, and the former New Orleans Saints star went about making that look like one of the league's better bargains. He had 20 sacks and 87 total pressures in his first season with the Bengals, nine sacks and 74 total pressures in 2022, 20 sacks and 79 total pressures in 2023, and last season's triumph. Hendrickson isn't talked about nationally as one of the NFL's best edge defenders, but he certainly has been exactly that.
(Note: All sack and pressure numbers courtesy of Pro Football Focus, which counts half-sacks as full sacks).
Moreover, Hendrickson did it without much help. Last season, edge-rusher Joseph Ossai finished second on the team with five sacks, and interior defensive lineman B.J. Hill finished second with 32 total pressures.
And while the Bengals did give Hendrickson a one-year, $21 million extension with $8 million guaranteed that keeps him in the fold through the 2025 season, there's not a lot of oxygen left in the room on either side. Hendrickson has a $15.8 million base salary for the upcoming season, and his salary cap hit of $18,666,668 ranks fourth on the team behind only Burrow, Chase, and Higgins. He also wants a new deal that will pay him as one of the NFL's best quarterback endangerers, which he certainly is.
The Bengals aren't so sure. They've allowed Hendrickson to seek a trade, and at the annual league meetings in April, executive vice president Katie Blackburn wasn't exactly all-in on giving the veteran what he feels he's earned.
"I think he should be happy at certain rates that maybe he doesn't think he'd be happy at," Blackburn said. "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. So, you know, it takes him to say yes to something, and also, we have all the respect in the world for him. He's been a great player. We're happy to have him. And so maybe we'll find a way to get something to work. We're just gonna see where it goes."
"That was a little disappointing, because communication has been poor over the last couple of months," Hendrickson responded on the Pat McAfee Show. "That's something that I hold in high regard. They have not communicated with my agent directly. It's been something that's been a little bit frustrating, but again, this is the business of it. I'm incredibly blessed to be in the NFL, and I'm excited to be a Bengal, right?"
Well, maybe not.
The man in the crosshairs here is new defensive coordinator Al Golden, who's trying to do the best he can with what he's got — or, more likely, what he hopes he's got. If Hendrickson is out of the picture for any reason, there are no immediate solutions to that issue. Yes, the Bengals did select Texas A&M edge-rusher Shemar Stewart with the 17th overall pick in the 2025 draft, but as physically gifted as Stewart is, he's very much a work in progress when it comes to having a comprehensive pass-rush plan.
Oh, and it probably doesn't help that the Bengals are also being difficult with Stewart's contract situation. Not a great look for an organization with over $27 million in cap space as we sit here today.
"We felt like we could get him to gather a little bit at the top and complete some of those," Golden said of Stewart after the pick was made, regarding Stewart's ability to turn his athleticism into more sack production. "He's got the reach and the length to do it. He's got the bend at the top, and he's got the speed and power in his arms. He's got a lot of the things that we want. He's a strong edge-setter. We feel like he's got the traits that we covet, and the play demeanor that we don't have to do anything but get him out there, and watch him do it. From that standpoint, we're excited to work with him."
From a financial standpoint, which isn't Golden's department, it's still very much up in the air.
So, this is a team with everything required on offense to compete with the absolute best the NFL has to offer, and it's also a team that is coming up horribly short in the pass-rush department from a front office perspective. Not in scouting or player evaluation, but in the skills to pay the bills on time and with the proper incentive to keep everyone happy while still managing the salary cap.
If that upends the Bengals once again, and prevents that high-powered, high-priced offense from competing in the postseason, we all know who's to blame.