Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson (91) hangs his head on the sideline in the fourth quarter of the NFL Week 9 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati on Sunday, Nov. 7, 2021. Cleveland kept a halftime lead to clinch a 41-16 win over the Bengals. Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

ESPN's Bill Barnwell Gives Bengals Dubious Offseason Superlative Surrounding Trey Hendrickson

Originally posted on Cincinnati Bengals on SI
By Russell Heltman | Last updated May 25, 2025 8:29 AM ET

The Bengals and Trey Hendrickson are at odds over the final year of his contract, creating a special superlative for the team from ESPN's Bill Barnwell: Most likely to hope their biggest problem just forgets about being mad.

Barnwell took issue with Cincinnati's handling of the situation, especially for a player that is so dramatically important to their worst unit.

"Good communication is one way to resolve a crisis. The Bengals don't appear to have received that memo," Barnwell wrote. "Last week, coach Zac Taylor reached out to Hendrickson via text. Instead of asking whether his star pass rusher has gone on any fun vacations or streamed any good shows recently, Taylor reminded Hendrickson that mandatory minicamp was upcoming and missing those practices would result in fines. Hendrickson responded by telling reporters he had no intention of playing under his current deal in 2025. ESPN colleague Jeremy Fowler has reported that Hendrickson is willing to sit out regular-season games if there's no resolution.

"It was going to be hard for the Bengals to replace Hendrickson in March, but that possibility has become downright impossible following free agency and the draft. He created an unprecedented 26 sacks for himself and his teammates a year ago, per ESPN's metrics, 11.5 more than any other player. The data for this metric dates to 2017, and no other player had topped 20 sacks created in a season."

As I've noted in multiple articles this offseason, there is no realistic path to Cincinnati improving its Super Bowl chances this coming season with a Hendrickson trade.

Older stars rarely bring back comparable active talent in a trade and even if Cincinnati could get a good player back, it's not going to be an elite pass rusher. Why would the potential trade partner trade a good pass rusher for a different good pass rusher?

Hendrickson's conviction is the pressure point to watch here. He holds major weight in Cincinnati's ability to make the playoffs and will hurt those chances more and more every game he possibly sits out for a new deal.