Hendrickson Extension Mess Defining Bengals Offseason For One Reason

The Cincinnati Bengals had some concerns earlier this offseason when Tee Higgins was set to be the No. 1 receiver available at the start of free agency. Riding the risk of losing one of Joe Burrow's star playmakers, Cincinnati rushed to ink him a new contract while extending their own No. 1 Ja'Marr Chase to a record deal. 

There was certainly some negotiating and a dramatic wait to get those done. But the Bengals showed a sense of urgency and sprinted to the finish line with those matters. 

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for their handling of Trey Hendrickson's contract extension. The team has not been willing to meet him at the right numbers and the talks have now stopped entirely. 

Ill advised comments from team staff and poor rallying efforts from head coach Zac Taylor have Hendrickson settled on sitting out until he gets what he wants. 

The issue? The Bengals are not willing to negotiate a new contract nor trade him away, so they are hurting themselves in the process. As ESPN's Bill Barnwell put it, they are seemingly hoping the problem just goes away. 

They've yet to address the requests of star edge rusher Trey Hendrickson, who was my pick as 2024 Defensive Player of the Year. He wants a new contract or a trade to another team that will give him one, and Cincinnati doesn't appear to be inclined to do either."

This string of actions now backs them into a corner. Hendrickson has been the lone bright spot for a defense that has really struggled of late, so there are little to no means of replacing him or making up for his production in the aggregate. 

"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."

Cap restraints are certainly reasonable qualms given the money Cincinnati has poured into their offense the last few years. But sitting on this problem does not make things better. 

The Bengals have their work cut out to either make amends or get a deal done. Either way, having this incident define your offseason ahead of a major season for the franchise makes for terrible optics.