Joe Burrow Ripped Amid Bengals Salary Cap Struggles

The NFL's most dramatic contract extension saga drags on and will likely remain unsolved into July. Trey Hendrickson and the Cincinnati Bengals have yet to come to terms on a new deal to keep the NFL's sacks leader from the past two seasons in town for the coming years. 

There have been some pretty brutal revelations from the Bengals side and Hendrickson made the situation even messier with a public lambasting of his team. Amid this drama, teammates including Joe Burrow have voiced their support for Hendrickson as he works through this. 

However, one analyst believes Burrow carries some of the blame here. ESPN's Andrew Hawkins claims that Burrow's massive contract along with those for his top two receivers have muddied the waters in the Bengals keeping Hendrickson happy. 

“I think everyone’s had a hand in it. When you look at Joe Burrow — a top-five quarterback — there’s going to be holes in your team whenever you’re getting paid what you’re getting paid," he said on First Take. 

"More importantly, he made it very clear that he wanted his guys; he wanted Higgins and he wanted Chase. Get the deals done, I don’t care. So when that happens, now some of this is on your shoulders as well to make whatever the circumstances are… work.”

These three contracts have eaten up a great deal of the Bengals cap space. To possess the elite offensive firepower that the Bengals maintain, that comes at a cost. 

But while it's easy to connect the dots and assign blame to the player, it's also an unfair response. Burrow, Chase and Higgins have merely campaigned for what they believe they are worth. Cincinnati obliged and agreed to the terms. 

Burrow is entirely within his right to campaign for one of his teammates getting a bag after he earned his. 

That does not change the difficulty on the Bengals side in keeping everyone happy. But it has become clear that Hendrickson will stand firm on what he believes his value to be. 

If the Bengals hope to return to the postseason and threaten other contenders in the AFC, their defense must improve. That improvement almost certainly happens with Hendrickson on the field.