The writing seemed to be on the wall when it came to Trey Hendrickson's future with the Cincinnati Bengals and that writing spelled out that he'd be getting traded. Well, as the great Lee Corso always says, not so fast my friend. According to Dianna Russini of The Athletic on the Scoops City Podcast, a deal could still get done between Hendrickson and the Bengals.
"I did a little digging on it and I'm still getting really good vibes coming out of Cincy that they're going to try to get a deal done with Trey [Hendrickson]."
Hendrickson asked to be traded earlier in the offseason when contract talks weren't going well between him and the Bengals. When the team spent its first-round pick on Shemar Stewart, that's when it really felt like Hendrickson's time with the organization could be nearing the end. Russini doesn't seem to think that's the case, however.
It sure sounds like a deal between Trey Hendrickson and Bengals could still happen
Hendrickson signed with the Bengals in 2021 and went on to record 14 sacks that year. He's tied his career-high the past two seasons notching 17.5 sacks both years and being the only real scary threat for the Bengals a season ago. That's why bringing him back and keeping him happy is important but it's also worth noting that Hendrickson is 30 years old and this team tends to shy away from extending guys once they're approaching 30.
That being said, the Bengals have clearly shown they're trying to get away from being "the old Bengals" and proved that by extending not just Ja'Marr Chase but Tee Higgins as well. They also kept Mike Gesiciki in Cincinnati and now could go for the sweep by extending Hendrickson.
The Bengals are certainly in win-now mode and why shouldn't they be with Joe Burrow at the helm? They missed out on capitalizing on winning a Super Bowl while Burrow was on his rookie deal but the window is still open as long as he's playing at a high level. Why not extend Hendrickson and go for broke now?
It appears that's the strategy from the Bengals front office. We'll have to see if it works out for them.