The Cincinnati Bengals are playing with fire, as they’re reportedly listening to trade offers for star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson.
That’s why NFL analyst Trey Wingo put them on blast for their thought process.
“Let’s recap: the Bengals have a generational Hall of Fame QB and they’ve paid his top two targets. Despite all of this, they missed the playoffs last season because their defense was all terrible. So how do they fix it? By listening to trade offers for their best defensive player, unsigned defensive end Trey Hendrickson. This is how management fails its players,” Wingo wrote on X.
Let’s recap: the Bengals have a generational Hall of Fame QB and they’ve paid his top two targets. Despite all of this, they missed the playoffs last season because their defense was all terrible. So how do they fix it? By listening to trade offers for their best defensive…
— trey wingo (@wingoz) August 17, 2025
Hendrickson is on a very short list of elite pass rushers, and the Bengals struggled despite him leading the NFL in sacks.
The biggest irony of the situation is that the Bengals reportedly are looking to get a first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft and a young defensive player in any trade involving Hendrickson.
Simply put, they value him as a prime trade asset and want elite value in return, but they don’t value him as that type of superstar he is when it comes to his salary.
Things continue to escalate between the Bengals and Hendrickson, and he seems less likely to play this season unless he either gets a new deal or is traded.
The Bengals have a generational talent in quarterback Joe Burrow, yet it seems like the front office is going to great lengths to make sure he doesn’t get the type of supporting cast he needs to win a championship.
The organization has often gotten on the bad side of its best players, and it’s not like the Bengals play in the biggest market or make for an appealing destination for free agents.
NEXT: Dan Orlovsky Warns Bengals About Trading Trey Hendrickson