The contract dispute between the Cincinnati Bengals and their star defensive end Trey Hendrickson has loomed over the team throughout the offseason and appears likely to remain unresolved by training camp. It's a situation that can be summed up in just a few words — debacle, fiasco, and embarrassment being the first that come to mind.
On one hand, the Bengals view Hendrickson as an elite talent deserving of a raise but are hesitant to meet his asking price due to concerns about his age and the potential for declining play in the coming years. Meanwhile, Hendrickson feels slighted; he and his agent believe the Bengals promised a new contract if he played through the 2024 season—a promise they feel has been broken.
This has led them to use negotiation tactics that may have rubbed Mike Brown and the front office the wrong way. Neither side is without fault in these hostile negotiations and it may ultimately come down to which is the first to cave. But what happens if both the Bengals and Hendrickson stand firm and an agreement can't be reached?
Projected Bengals starters:
The Bengals are already heading into training camp with one starting defensive end spot up for grabs, but new defensive coordinator Al Golden would be faced with two positions to fill without Hendrickson.
If it weren't for a contract dispute of his own, first-round pick Shemar Stewart would seem to be a shoo-in for one of the starting spots. Since he's still watching practices from the sideline himself, there are two obvious players that would be poised to start opposite each other.
Stewart is not the only edge rusher the Bengals have invested high draft picks in over the past few years. Myles Murphy was a first-round selection in the 2023 NFL Draft and Joseph Ossai was taken in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Neither has lived up to their potential on the field, but all hope is not lost as they are between the ages of 23 and 25 years old with plenty of time left to develop.
Losing Hendrickson for the season wouldn't be ideal for the Bengals, but it could give Murphy and Ossai the trial by fire that they need to reach their potential. Between those two and Stewart, there would still be plenty of talent to go around on the edges of the defensive line, albeit untapped potential that could never be fulfilled.
Impact on the Bengals' pass rush:
It probably goes without saying that losing a guy who has averaged more than a sack a game for two years in a row will have a negative impact on a defense that was already woefully inept at rushing the passer.
The Bengals defense accumulated 80 sacks over the past two seasons and Hendrickson was responsible for a whopping 35 of those. Last year, he had 17.5 of the team's 36 sacks, which is just below 50% of its sack total. That's a lot of ground for other players to make up, especially considering they only made one notable addition at the position in the offseason.
Going into training camp, Ossai has shown the most pass-rushing promise as a pro. The fifth-year lineman is coming off a career year statistically, in which he recorded five sacks. That may not sound very impressive, but all of his sacks for the year were recorded during a seven-game stretch to end the season. If he can live up to that level of play for an entire season, the Bengals may have a pass rusher capable of reaching double-digit sacks in a season waiting to be unlocked.
The start of Murphy's career has been rough so far. He has only sacked the quarterback three times in his career and they all came as a rookie. Still, he's shown flashes of talent, even if those moments have been few and far between. The former first-rounder's outlook is not promising going into the season, but a new defensive coordinator and increased playing time could be just the recipe he needs to tap into the potential the Bengals had in mind when drafting him.
No one knows what to expect from Stewart as a rookie. The Texas A&M product was notorious for a lack of sack production in college, but he brings limitless athletic potential to the table and could be molded into an elite player in every phase of the game.
That being said, for a player who is widely considered a project, coaching and live reps are the two of the most important factors in his development. He won't get those until the Bengals find a way to get him on the field. At this point, Stewart shouldn't be expected to save the day for this defensive line.
There are other players who would be forced to step up in Hendrickson's absence, with either Cam Sample or Cedric Johnson coming next in the rotation. However, Sample is coming off of a season-ending injury from last year and Johnson is going into his second season without a significant amount of playing time under his belt, so it's hard to say what they would be bringing to the table. Whatever they're capable of, it likely won't be enough to solve this issue the Bengals have put themselves into.
What it means for the Bengals' defense
As it currently stands, there is not much of a recipe for success without Hendrickson, the Bengals just don't have the ingredients. They would be forcing Golden into a position of fixing a pretty bad defensive line without its best player, instead making him rely on unproven and underdeveloped talent. Ossai, Murphy and Stewart all have the profiles to be solid to great players in the league, but do they really expect it all to come together in one season?
In 2024, most of the Bengals' losses fell on the defense. Even though Joe Burrow and the offense brought their highest level nearly every week, they could rarely dig themselves out of the hole that their defense put them in.
A lot of the blame can be placed on an injured secondary, but the majority of it should be pointed toward a defensive line that consistently failed to rush the pass on a weekly basis. If the Bengals want to run it back but with a rookie project instead of the league's top sacker, they will be resigning themselves to missing the playoffs for a third straight season.
Yes, it's that simple. Should the Bengals stick with their hard ball approach in these contract negotiations and Hendrickson refuses to give in, they will miss the playoffs and they will deserve it.
Potential trades the Bengals can make:
In the unlikely scenario that Hendrickson actually sits out the regular season, the Bengals may be forced to reevaluate their willingness to part ways with him — and at what cost. It has been no secret that Duke Tobin and co. are opposed to trading the 30-year-old edge rusher for anything less than a first-round pick, which is a bit of an unreasonable request given their own hesitancy to sign him to a deal the team they'd be trading him to would ultimately have to.
However, there should be no shortage of teams willing to give up a second or third-round pick for the prolific pass rusher.
The most realistic teams that could trade for Hendrickson include those with serious Super Bowl aspirations that are in win-now mode, such as the Detroit Lions or Washington Commanders, both of which have had reported interest in acquiring his league-leading sack production.
A less obvious team that could be interested is the Indianapolis Colts, as they recently brought in former-Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo to lead their defense and a reunion would make sense for both sides.
These are just three of the teams that could potentially be game for a trade, but there's likely to be a long list of front offices chomping at the bit for a chance to enter the Hendrickson sweepstakes. All that it will require is for the Bengals to be practical with their asking price. A team can't go wrong acquiring a day two pick for a player who would otherwise walk in free agency.
Potential signings the Bengals can make:
With the limited depth that would come in Hendrickson's absence, the Bengals front office may be forced to hit the open market to find another defensive lineman to add to the rotation.
A logical fit at defensive end would be Carl Lawson, who started his career with the Bengals but most recently played for the Dallas Cowboys. Despite the injury concerns that have plagued Lawson's career, he is coming off a five-sack season that shows he can still be a valuable rotational piece.
Jadeveon Clowney would be another smart acquisition for the Bengals. The former No. 1 pick in the 2014 NFL Draft never became the pass rusher he was drafted to be and has historically excelled more against the run, but he recorded 5.5 sacks in 2024 and would provide the much-needed steady hand of a veteran.
There are plenty more options at defensive end if the Bengals want to go in a different direction than Lawson or Clowney, such as Ogbo Okoronkwo, who was recently released by the Cleveland Browns, DeMarcus Walker and John Cominsky.
While it makes sense to go after a defensive end, there could also be wisdom in adding a defensive tackle to add pass-rushing juice to the interior and supplement the weakened edge attack. Unfortunately, the options are much more limited at that position, so the Bengals will likely be stuck with what they have there.