One of the most un-Cincinnati-Bengals-like moves may turn out to be a very Bengals-like move with a better PR agent.
One of the criticisms directed at Cincinnati after the trade and extension for Dexter Lawrence was that the Bengals could have just given Trey Hendrickson a long-term contract.
Now that both players are on to greener pastures, given the contracts' value and the team's needs, the Bengals should come out of this smelling like roses if the value of having Lawrence over Hendrickson is the biggest concern. That is, unless you are not objective about the organization.
Critics used the same arguments against both
The Lawrence trade and Hendrickson signing come with some of the same criticisms. But you may not know that listening to some observers of Cincinnati’s moves.
One of the major questions both players had from those outside their respective buildings was why they did not perform up to par last year. Lawrence is coming off career lows in sacks, tackles, and QB hits in 2025. However, the season before, he recorded a career-high 9 sacks and 8 tackles for loss.
Hendrickson is coming off a Bengals career low in sacks, tackles, tackles for loss, and QB hits. However, in 2024, Hendrickson also had his best individual season, setting career highs in sacks, tackles, tackles for loss, and QB hits.
Nevertheless, Cincinnati was willing to pay Hendrickson a contract worth more than the annual value he received from Baltimore. Now, the Bengals will pay Lawrence less than they initially offered the now-Ravens edge rusher.
Also, while some are making a big deal about giving a one-year extension to a 28-year-old defensive tackle, Lawrence is 2 years, 11 months younger than the 31-year old Hendrickson.
So not only are the Bengals paying less for Lawrence than they would have for Hendrickson, but they are also getting a younger player along their defensive line.
No, not by much, but by enough where being 28 versus 31 matters to NFL franchises.
The Bengals are paying less for the better fit
The Bengals tried to give Hendrickson a long-term contract, north of $30 million per year. Hendrickson decided to turn down that contract in search of a better option.
What Henderson found was not the vibrant market he expected, and he was short of what the Bengals offered him by $3.5 million per year, as his contract with the Ravens is worth $28 million per year.
However, for the 2026 season, Lawrence is earning $20 million, whereas Hendrickson will cost the Ravens $31 million.
The Bengals offered Trey Hendrickson more money than they are now paying Dexter Lawrence. So not only are they paying less, but they have, hopefully, a more impactful player who will help improve the league's worst run defenses from the position that is most pivotal to achieving that aim.
Dexter Lawrence’s value for Bengals exceeds that of Trey Hendrickson
Value should be relative to the team that determines it.
In Marvel’s Daredevil: Born Again, we learned that the character Vanessa Fisk properly valued the painting, Rabbit in a Snowstorm, as something a properly motivated buyer would pay triple the asking price for. The fact that no one believed her did not make her incorrect, but only proved that value is in the eye of the beholder.
Not only is Dexter Lawrence younger and has a cheaper contract than what the Bengals offered Hendrickson, but he also comes at a much more important position for the Bengals than edge rusher. Lawrence is the Bengals’ version of Rabbit in a Snowstorm, and the naysayers to this trade will hopefully learn they are just blindly wrong.
And for added emphasis, Over the Cap notes that defensive tackle ($27.12 million) is a more valuable position than edge rusher ($24.43 million), based on the franchise tenders' values in 2026.
After addressing the safety position with the signing of Bryan Cook, Cincinnati's most crucial need was on the interior of the defensive line.
With Lawrence in the middle of the defensive line, he should provide much-needed reinforcements for a defense that had the league’s worst rush defense. Furthermore, he will provide a boost to the pass defense, as he significantly impacted New York's defense when he was on the field.
The price looks high, but Lawrence is worth it for Bengals
Yes, the Bengals had to give up a first-round pick for Lawrence's services, but it will be a price worth paying if he turns out to be what many Bengals fans and players hope and expect he will be.
Reaching for a defensive tackle with the 10th overall pick would've only furthered the damage caused by missing out on so many of the defensive line prospects in the recent past.
So the Bengals paid less for a more valuable position for them, and they also don't have to pay a first-round salary after last year's draft, when they took their second- and third-round picks and made them immediate starters, with their fourth-round pick not too far behind.
All of that, while their first-round pick contributed nothing beyond preseason headlines and clever offseason one-liners.
And now that the Bengals are near the bottom of the league in cap space after all of their moves, the value added between having Lawrence over Hendrickson is even more important.
Most importantly for 2026, the Bengals have a proven veteran at their most needed position at the time of the transaction, while paying less than it would have cost to keep Trey Hendrickson.
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