Ravens' Maxx Crosby trade gaffe lays groundwork for Trey Hendrickson's revenge

The irony of Cincinnati Bengals fans dunking on Trey Hendrickson all throughout Day 2 of the NFL's free agent legal tampering window knows no bounds. That's especially so in the aftermath of Maxx Crosby's failed physical that ultimately rescinded his trade to the Baltimore Ravens.

Hendrickson was getting trolled pretty hard by the not-real-life keyboard warriors of Elon Musk's X/Twitter for not taking a three-year contract extension last offseason. That deal would've theoretically paid him more than his market is now dictating. Just search it. The hate was/is strong everywhere.

But now that Crosby is no longer heading to Baltimore, who's the most logical edge defender for the Ravens to pivot to? None other than Trey Hendrickson!

Bengals in danger of watching Ravens swoop in for Trey Hendrickson — while keeping two first-round picks

What most casuals miss about the Trey Hendrickson-Bengals brass debacle of a relationship is the interpersonal nuance of the situation. Can it be true that Hendrickson and his agent are difficult? Yes. Can it also be true that the Bengals are still cheap and cut corners as an organization in a lot of ways? Also yes.

To me, the issue was about respect and stability. Hendrickson produced 17.5-sack seasons in 2023 and 2024. The Bengals not only wouldn't pay out more money along the way to reflect what he was worth, but they refused to offer guaranteed money beyond the first year of the contract.

Hendrickson is at the point in his career where he doesn't want to be strung along on an annual basis. Or not be fully certain as to when he'll earn his money. He more than earned his keep at a multi-year bag rife with guarantees. Cincinnati refused to give it to him. It's the principle of the thing, and it's why the Bengals will continue to alienate players in perpetuity until they change their ways.

Any Bengals fan who was victory-lapping in excess over the top-market signings of Bryan Cook and Boye Mafe should consider the following context. Cook was born in Cincinnati. He legitimately wanted to play for his hometown team.

Diving deeper into Mafe, who hopes to emulate Hendrickson's career arc to some degree, he saw the opportunity to start in Cincy after being relegated to rotational duty on a Seahawks Super Bowl team. The Bengals signed him to a three-year contract that's more like a one-plus-one prove-it deal.

Mafe is part of a nebulous future at the defensive end position for Cincinnati between Myles Murphy's pending fifth-year option/possible free agency and Shemar Stewart's uncertain trajectory.

Do you see how those extenuating circumstances aided the Bengals' efforts immensely to land those two particular players? If you don't, I can't help you any further.

Back to Hendrickson. If he really wants to stick it to Cincinnati, what would stop him from signing with the Ravens? They couldn't make a bigger home run move to salvage the bad PR from this Crosby disaster. Stealing a division rival's elite pass rusher? For no compensation? And hanging onto your first-round picks this year and next? And paying Hendrickson less than Crosby?

Good lord what a freaking win for Baltimore if they're able to pull this off. Speculation is swirling that this will indeed come to fruition in the aftermath of the canceled Crosby trade:

You know who's generally bad at drafting? Duke Tobin and the Bengals. You know who's generally good at drafting? Eric DeCosta and the Ravens.

As long as Lamar Jackson's extension or restructure is handled adeptly by Baltimore's front office — hear that, Bengals? Not-so-subliminal plea for a Joe Burrow restructure — Hendrickson should be headed to Cincinnati's fiercest AFC North competitor.

*And* the Ravens now have the 14th overall pick back in their possession. Who do you trust to nail their first-rounder more? The Bengals at No. 10 or the Ravens at No. 14? I'd give Baltimore approx. -650 odds as the favorite, dismaying as that is to say.

If Trey Hendrickson does wind up in a Ravens uniform, he's walking into a heck of a situation. A healthy Lamar and Derrick Henry should help the offense control time of possession, allowing Hendrickson to tee off in obvious pass rushing situations.

Plus, the complementary pieces on Baltimore's defense are miles better than what Hendrickson is accustomed to in Cincinnati. I'm afraid that's not a high bar to clear.

Did I mention Jesse Minter is the Ravens' new head coach, too? He's considered perhaps the greatest defensive schemer in the sport other than, say, Mike Macdonald or Steve Spagnuolo. Not a long list of names ahead of him. Hence why Baltimore fired John Harbaugh in favor of him.

This is setting up to be the ultimate Hendrickson revenge arc. I don't like it very much.