One of Cincinnati’s best players is headed out the door.
Defensive end Trey Hendrickson has been granted permission to seek a trade out of Cincinnati, after negotiations on an extension have fallen apart.
The first domino in the Queen City has potentially fallen.
The Bengals were one of the most interesting teams to follow this offseason, in regards to how they were to handle a potential Hendrickson extensions, along with new deals for star wide receivers, Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase.
The Bengals tagged Higgins earlier this week in hopes to get a long-term deal done.
And the Chase negotiations are far from a resolution at this point.
Now it’s clear as to what they are going to do with their best defensive player.
Trade him away.
Hendrickson had one year remaining on his contract and was due for a massive pay raise after leading the league in sacks with 17.5, and finishing second in the Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year voting.
He was named a first-team All-Pro.
The star pass-rusher also finished second in the league in sacks in 2023 with another 17.5.
Since arriving as a free agent in Cincinnati before the 2021 season, he had been a Pro Bowl selection every year, collecting 57 sacks in those four years.
That’s good for an average of a little over 14 sacks per season.
Production that isn’t easily replaced.
A defense that ranked near the bottom in every category last season, that ultimately was the reason the 9-8 Bengals missed the playoffs, is now going to be without its best player on that side of the ball.
The Bengals don’t want to get into a habit of wasting Joe Burrow‘s prime years.
Just last week at the scouting combine in Indianapolis, Duke Tobin, director of player personnel and de facto general manager, spoke on wanting to extend Hendrickson and keeping him in the Queen City.
“Our preference with Trey is to have him on our football team because we want him,” Tobin said.
“So I never really talked about open preferences for trading guys, because all that does is take on a life of its own.
“And that’s not something I want to do, because I want Trey on our football team. He’s under contract.
“We’re looking to pay him for what we believe will be really good future years and we see him as not falling off in his career.
“That’s why we’re actively trying, and if we get to the point where we’re actively trying to trade him, maybe I’ll give you a call.”
Hendrickson himself had gone on the record to say that he preferred and to remain a Bengal.
That ship has sailed.
And while Tobin seemed sincere, it’s clear that it was always going to be an uphill battle to bring back Hendrickson, Higgins and Chase all on new deals that topped the market, or that were in the vicinity of the top.
This led to fans feeling like they were led astray in the messaging coming out of the Cincinnati front office.
“Complete failure,” one fan said on X.
“They had a plan. They expressed the plan to extend all three this offseason and have failed to do so. It really puts a big dent in their messaging this offseason.”
“Ahh, so it appears the Bengals are still the Bengals after all,” another fan commented.
“The franchise doesn’t know how to operate in a modern context. The upper echelons of the Brown family are unable to fully change,” one more chimed in.
The fans aren’t happy, that much is clear.
If there was ever a saving grace for the Bengals front office to pull out of their hat, it’s to announce the contract extensions of Higgins and Chase immediately.
And even then, that might not be enough.
The damage may already be done for a fanbase that has been hardened and stiffened by a cheap owner, time and time again,
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