ESPN Slaps Cincinnati Bengals With Middling Offseason Grade

 It's almost time to put a bow on the 2025 NFL offseason. ESPN's Seth Walder wrapped it up with grades for all 32 teams this week, draping a "C+" mark on the Bengals.

It's an offseason marked by paid offensive stars and disgruntled defensive pieces like Trey Hendrickson.

"Cincinnati's season cratered because of its defense despite the best efforts of Hendrickson, who led the league with 17.5 sacks," Walder wrote. "But Hendrickson is in a contract dispute and was granted permission to seek a trade. Sure, one could argue that the Bengals shouldn't jump to pay a huge amount to a 30-year-old pass rusher. But they're contenders, and he's a critical piece of that puzzle. And Cincinnati easily has the cap space to do it! It has $33 million available this year and $56 million in 2026. The Bengals ought to be locking Hendrickson in to try to make a title run.

"I don't know the exact circumstances, but if this is a cash-flow issue, I have little sympathy: Ownership's job is to try to field a winning team. In the hard-capped, revenue-sharing NFL, teams must be able to pay to the cap. Cincinnati also fired Lou Anarumo and brought in Al Golden as defensive coordinator. A shake-up was necessary, and any defensive regression to the mean would be a positive."

One would think something eventually gets done with both Hendrickson and Stewart to have them on the field before Week 1. Still, nothing new has surfaced for either player as the clock ticks toward the start of training camp on July 23.

Simply working out those two scenarios would make the offseason seem much more palatable compared to the other option. Cincinnati's chances of winning the Super Bowl this coming February take a major hit without Hendrickson and Stewart.