The Cincinnati Bengals organization has done everything in their power to alienate star players in the past. Trey Hendrickson was no exception. It's a big reason why he joined the rival Ravens in free agency, a move Joe Burrow wasn't surprised by.
Hendrickson is the latest in a long line of weirdness re: how the Bengals front office builds relationships. For such a notoriously cheap franchise who still treats families like dirt, they should do everything possible to ingratiate themselves with players.
Except those are the narratives of yesteryear. This offseason marked a genuine change. And the transgressions of the past shouldn't be held against Cincinnati if we're grading the offseason as a purely standalone exercise.
Trey Hendrickson saga shouldn't diminish Bengals' sterling offseason grade
FanSided's Cody Williams gave the Bengals an A- grade for their offseason in a lengthy report card for all 32 teams.
Here's the Cincinnati skinny, before which Williams named Boye Mafe (Hendrickson's replacement) as the best move before "bungling the entire Trey Hendrickson situation" was named the worst move:
"It seems that the Cincinnati Bengals finally took their defensive malfeasance to heart by making numerous additions on that side of the ball, which should surely be a tremendous help to Joe Burrow and company. The only thing keeping the Bengals from an A or A+ offseason is that they let Trey Hendrickson walk this offseason when they honestly should've dealt him. Regardless, Cincy should be much improved, even if I don't fully believe they're ready to take the AFC North just yet."
Curious that Dexter Lawrence isn't the best addition. He's far more proven as a player than Mafe is. Maybe Cody is one of those cats who thinks the 10th overall pick was an overpay for Sexy Dexy.
Anyway, Mafe replaced Hendrickson on a three-year, $60 million contract, whereas Hendrickson signed with the Ravens for four years and $112 million. That's $8 million in savings per season, plus the acquisition of Lawrence to finally shore up that defensive tackle spot.
After being relegated to rotational duty in Seattle, if Mafe can get back to his 2023 levels of production (nine sacks), in tandem with all the reinforcements in the trenches alongside him, this Bengals D should take a huge step up. Plus, Mafe is a better athlete who's more capable of dropping in coverage and setting the edge versus the run.
Cincinnati's brass absolutely mishandled Trey Hendrickson. They disrespected him at every turn. They've done this before. Hopefully those days are now over. If not, Joe Burrow ain't sticking around.
And sure, the Bengals could have traded Hendrickson, but according to OverTheCap.com, they're in line to receive a compensatory third-round pick for him in 2027 anyway.
Given how sour the relationship had gotten, Cincinnati had zero leverage to trade Hendrickson last year, especially once he got hurt. A franchise tag-and-trade would've been a non-starter for prospective suitors. What was the better play?
This offseason should be an A+ for the Bengals for the mere fact that they actually made an effort to go all-in for a Super Bowl. Whether the defense jells well enough to accomplish that feat matters not. It matters that an actual attempt to do something was made.
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