The Cincinnati Bengals are urged more than ever to move quickly to finalize Trey Hendrickson’s contract issue, as reports surfaced Thursday suggesting that the All-Pro edge rusher would be open to extending his holdout into the regular season.
Hendrickson is begging for a new contract that will pay him the same as the other top defensive ends in the NFL. He has done a lot to earn that promotion after finishing first in the league in sacks the previous season.
However, it appears that the Bengals have not made much forward in changing their original offer. By publicly criticizing the front office for the poor handling of his talks and by skipping OTAs, Hendrickson has made it apparent that he is unhappy. We still haven’t made any significant progress.
The reason for this could be that Cincinnati is allowing the rest of the market to settle as slowly as possible. Micah Parsons of the Dallas Cowboys and Aidan Hutchinson of the Detroit Lions are two more pass rusher names to watch.
According to one Bengals website, Cincinnati is holding off on making another offer for Hendrickson until they see the amount Hutchinson signs for. This is due to the fact that Detroit’s financial circumstances are extremely comparable to Cincinnati’s.
The Lions recently signed big contracts with tackle Penei Sewell, quarterback Jared Goff, and receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown. The Bengals have also re-signed receivers Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase, as well as quarterback Joe Burrow.
The elite edge rusher is now the next player on both clubs’ agendas, but they must certainly be aware of the remaining cap space.
Since joining the NFL as a highly-tipped No. 2 overall pick in 2022, Hutchinson has made a big impression. He was particularly good last season, recording eight sacks in five games. Unfortunately, his season ended due to a broken leg.
But the Lions were able to pick up his 2025 option year and buy themselves more time to draft a high-priced extension because of his 22 sacks in the first two seasons of his tenure.
Hendrickson and Hutchinson are both approaching their “contract years” at this point, although Hendrickson might not make it because he has made it clear that he will not play under his current contract.
Detroit might be persuaded to pay around $30 million to acquire Hutchinson. Since Hendrickson is almost six years older than Hutchinson and thus more prone to injury, Cincinnati would then consider signing him for less.
Detroit might convince Hendrickson that Cincinnati’s initial offer of $28 million per year is a good contract that matches the top echelon of the position if they were to land Hutchinson for a price in the high-$20 million to low-$30 million bracket.
You could argue that Cleveland and Las Vegas were motivated to pay that much because they are the only “star power” figures in their organizations and must be retained for things like marketing and fan excitement, even though Myles Garrett and Maxx Crosby’s outrageous salaries would far exceed this amount.
Detroit and Cincinnati don’t have that issue.
Although this claim may be a bit far-fetched, Garrett and Crosby’s on-field performance nevertheless supports their claim to such a high wage.
So does Hendrickson’s.
The only difference is that Detroit is not in a rush to finalize a deal, which may explain Cincinnati’s decision to wait and see how Hutchinson affects the market.
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