Trey'd Hendrickson? I don't think so.

[LostInDaJungle]

Dammit Katie!

[sparky151]

I'd guess the issue is simply a difference of opinion on his market value. So the team is letting him talk to other teams to see what they would pay him. He's probably asking for Nick Bosa level money ($34M per) and the team is offering Danielle Hunter money ($25M). So the team hopes nobody else offers him top dollar. And if some other team does value him that highly, then they should be willing to pay a lot in trade for him too.

[alleycat]

If true, this would be bad. Will certainly alter the entire calculus of the "window" we have, unless, somehow, magically, we got multiple impact picks or players in return. 

 

I guess if we "traded" Trey for Myles Garrett, that could be a net positive, but other than that, I don't see a whole lot of upside from this, except drastically reducing our cap, so-as to make the Tee-Chase-Burrow experience live on longer...but what's the point of that if we can't field a competitive Defense to capitalize on what they can do?

[LostInDaJungle]

1 minute ago, sparky151 said:

I'd guess the issue is simply a difference of opinion on his market value. So the team is letting him talk to other teams to see what they would pay him. He's probably asking for Nick Bosa level money ($34M per) and the team is offering Danielle Hunter money ($25M). So the team hopes nobody else offers him top dollar. And if some other team does value him that highly, then they should be willing to pay a lot in trade for him too.

https://lastwordonsports.com/nfl/2025/03/06/is-there-a-disconnect-within-the-bengals-organization/
 

 

Quote

 

Meanwhile, while on the “Drop the Mic” podcast, NFL Insider from The33rdTeam, Ari Meirov, spoke on the team’s negotiations with Chase, Higgins, and Hendrickson:

“If they want to keep all three players, they gotta get to $40 million per year for Ja’Marr, $30 million per year for Tee and about $32-33 million for Trey. They’re nowhere close on all three right now.”

 

 

Considering the Bengals tend to keep these things close to the vest, if Meirov’s information is good, it would imply the players and their agents are leaking information. As for Hendrickson, who told the team to extend him or trade him, Meirov alleged that the two sides are not close in negotiations.

 

 

“A couple of weeks ago, I would have said there’s no chance he gets traded. I think the possibility is out there, like if they’re able to get a crazy, crazy offer for him, I think they’d be willing to listen. They don’t want to trade him. They want to keep him, but now their ears are a little bit open when it comes to that situation.

“The number has to be $32-33 million per year in order to make it happen. He has one year and $16 million left. He knows his value. He knows that Myles Garrett, T.J. Watt, Maxx Crosby, and those type of players are all going to get paid this offseason as well. Those guys are also on third contracts. So he knows where the market is going and he wants to be paid accordingly, and to this point, they’ve been very far apart like they’ve been with the other two guys as well.”

 

 

[sparky151]

I doubt Trey is traded. He may even be extended, depending on what offers he gets. 

 

It would be a setback for the defense if he leaves. But he's also a poor run defender so maybe Golden didn't feel he was a good fit for his defense? 

 

Bengals should certainly make a run at Josh Sweat if Trey does leave. And they should get good pick compensation back for him. It's not that he's irreplaceable, it's that nobody trusts the team to adequately replace him.

[sparky151]

Bengals don't need to get to 40 mil for Chase. Probably don't need to get to 30 for Tee or 32 for Trey either. That guy is just making up numbers the players would eagerly accept but not what the team will pay.

 

[LostInDaJungle]

47 minutes ago, sparky151 said:

Bengals don't need to get to 40 mil for Chase. Probably don't need to get to 30 for Tee or 32 for Trey either.

Katie likes the way you think! These guys should show some gratitude for us picking them up at auction and sign a deal that helps the team! After all, who wouldn't want to make a little less playing for such a successful organization in such a big market!

Ari Meriov is not just a jagass with a YouTube. If he's thinking that's a reasonable number, then there's probably a few GM's that don't disagree. Relying on Chase and Higgins to prefer playing with Joe instead of owning another car dealership or two... We'll have to see how that pans out.

[|BlackJesus|]

I've been seeing the writing on the wall for a few weeks and Maxx's new deal sealed the fate. 

 

I would say it's almost guaranteed Trey is traded, hopefully for a late 1st, but I think the team would accept a 2nd. 

 

I think Trey wants between 30-35 mil a year and the team can't afford that with their other priorities and that the team has essentially chosen Tee over Trey (a decision I agree with if you were only going to keep 1). 

[|BlackJesus|]

One positive of trading Trey is it almost guarantees they keep Tee. And I think the loss of Tee would damage the teams final record more than losing Trey would. 

 

This defense needs a complete revamping, and paying your DE 35 mill that you already had and were historically bad with doesn't do that. 

[sparky151]

33 minutes ago, LostInDaJungle said:

Katie likes the way you think! These guys should show some gratitude for us picking them up at auction and sign a deal that helps the team! After all, who wouldn't want to make a little less playing for such a successful organization in such a big market!

Ari Meriov is not just a jagass with a YouTube. If he's thinking that's a reasonable number, then there's probably a few GM's that don't disagree. Relying on Chase and Higgins to prefer playing with Joe instead of owning another car dealership or two... We'll have to see how that pans out.

 

Lol. He isn't getting those numbers from the team, he's getting them from agents. Nothing to do with gratitude. Bengals may have problems signing free agents but usually offering the most money works. But Tee, Ja'Marr, and Trey aren't free agents. They can play on their current deals or assume the injury risk and decline the team's offers. Tee will be an unrestricted free agent in 2026 if he doesn't sign an extension. Likewise Trey. Ja'Marr is several years away from real free agency.

29 minutes ago, BlackJesus said:

I've been seeing the writing on the wall for a few weeks and Maxx's new deal sealed the fate. 

 

I would say it's almost guaranteed Trey is traded, hopefully for a late 1st, but I think the team would accept a 2nd. 

 

I think Trey wants between 30-35 mil a year and the team can't afford that with their other priorities and that the team has essentially chosen Tee over Trey (a decision I agree with if you were only going to keep 1). 

 

I'd say it's more likely than not that he isn't traded. The team is letting him guage the market because they think their offer is fair. 

 

If it came down to Tee vs Trey, I think Trey should be the one they keep. Tee is younger and more connected to Burrow, but Trey is our best defensive player and we already lack pass rush. If they trade him to Detroit or Washington for a 1st round pick and take say Scourton, the latter isn't going to get us 17 sacks in 2025. He'll be cheaper and on the roster longer but almost certainly won't produce at the same level as Hendrickson has the last 4 years. 

26 minutes ago, BlackJesus said:

One positive of trading Trey is it almost guarantees they keep Tee. And I think the loss of Tee would damage the teams final record more than losing Trey would. 

 

This defense needs a complete revamping, and paying your DE 35 mill that you already had and were historically bad with doesn't do that. 

 

I don't think trading Trey guarantees Tee will accept a deal with the team. Whatever deal they strike can be done with Trey on the roster too. 

 

Agreed the defense needs revamping but trading Hendrickson violates the first rule of holes.

 

[|BlackJesus|]

2 minutes ago, sparky151 said:

Agreed the defense needs revamping but trading Hendrickson violates the first rule of holes.

 

Not if the alternative to giving Trey 36 a year, is to give 3 younger mid tier free agents 12 a piece, who when added together improve the defense more than Trey would - plus you get a draft pick for another defensive starter. 

[|BlackJesus|]

8 minutes ago, sparky151 said:

I don't think trading Trey guarantees Tee will accept a deal with the team. 

 

It allows you to overpay a little for Tee to keep Burrow happy and the Big 3 together.

 

Which to me is the key of the entire off-season and the most necessary ingredient to winning a Super Bowl. 

[|BlackJesus|]

[|BlackJesus|]

Mina on the Trey news ...

 

[|BlackJesus|]

[|BlackJesus|]

[Le Tigre]

1 hour ago, BlackJesus said:

One positive of trading Trey is it almost guarantees they keep Tee. And I think the loss of Tee would damage the teams final record more than losing Trey would. 

 

This defense needs a complete revamping, and paying your DE 35 mill that you already had and were historically bad with doesn't do that. 

Then why did the Raiders fork out that shitload for Maxx…and THEIR defense is shit? 
 

Whatever “revamp” isn’t going to be happening this season. 
 

And the window closes a little faster 

[sparky151]

42 minutes ago, BlackJesus said:

 

Not if the alternative to giving Trey 36 a year, is to give 3 younger mid tier free agents 12 a piece, who when added together improve the defense more than Trey would - plus you get a draft pick for another defensive starter. 

 

Goodberry did a piece on this pointing out the Bengals front office historical issues in replacing departing good players. How many tries it took to replace Jonathan Joseph and how Zeitler still hasn't been replaced. If you go with 3 young guys hoping their combined production matches Trey, it might work. But it might not. In any even they will occupy 3 roster spots and we still can only play 11 players at once, not 13.

 

38 minutes ago, BlackJesus said:

 

It allows you to overpay a little for Tee to keep Burrow happy and the Big 3 together.

 

Which to me is the key of the entire off-season and the most necessary ingredient to winning a Super Bowl. 

 

Um, the defending champs are the Eagles who destroyed us in Cincinnati last year. We scored a respectable number of points vs the leagues #2 scoring defense. But we couldn't get stops to save our lives. Championships are very rarely won by onesided teams. Balanced teams have a much better chance. Eagles operate by paying their offense and drafting well on defense. Bengals fail because they can't get the second part down.

 

[Griever]

Oh man

 

[Griever]

 

[Le Tigre]

Other teams are smart. Nobody is going to come in with even a 2nd rounder right out of the box. The Bengals are in a corner…so this “borderline disrespectful” stuff probably has a ceiling of 4th round at this point. 
 

It might get better…it might not. 

[|BlackJesus|]

"I'm underpaid." ~ Trey 

 

Well then maybe you shouldn't have bet against yourself and signed a 2 year extension for that lower amount. 🤔 

 

The Bengals would be justified in just telling him to play out his contract if they wanted to. But a 1st rd pick or early 2nd is a better option long term. 

[texbengal]

It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. The Bengals have been definitive about signing Tee and Chase but a little less effusive re: extending Tre. While the FO gives me major “tired head” a lot, I don’t view giving Tre the chance to seek a trade as a give up move… more of a “we really value you, but at this price” situation. Which is SOP for Mike and Katie. As part of that, they’re giving him the chance to gauge his value in the marketplace, which I don’t recall them ever doing. 
 

We know that they’re wary of older (30 plus) guys getting big $ -look at Geno and Dunlap deals that didn’t age well… and then DJ Reader, not getting signed, and he was coming off of an injury besides. I guess for me, yes - Tre isn't a kid - but he also wasn’t a full time player for several years, so he’s a “young 30” and he’s been really productive and I think still has the ability to be for a few more years. I’d be surprised if trading Tre brought more than a 2nd round pick and given his age, he won’t get Maxx money, even if he’s looking for it. 
 

So I’d be surprised if he went anywhere. He’s still under contract so worst case, he sits out TC and shows up on the first Sunday, has a good year, and moves on afterwards. Maybe they’ll get some great trade offer for him, but even then, given the lack of success with drafting productive defensive players of late, that wouldn’t inspire a lot of confidence for the fan base. 17.5 sacks and 85 pressures is a lot of productivity, and they haven’t shown they have anything that comes close to replacing that. 

[|BlackJesus|]

1 minute ago, texbengal said:

He’s still under contract so worst case, he sits out TC and shows up on the first Sunday, has a good year, and moves on afterwards. 

 

The Bengals could also tag him next year if they wanted and make a team trade for him still. 

 

Just because some teams don't use all the leverage the league gives them, doesn't mean the Bengals can't. 

[texbengal]

10 minutes ago, Griever said:

 

I like Uche and Ojulari, and Sample is a useful player, but he doesn’t give you much juice on the pass rush. I’m an Ossai fan, but every year I think he’s gonna bust out and he shows flashes, but either gets hurt or just isn’t consistent. I’ve heard/read that the Be gals really like him, so maybe he comes back. But he’s no Tre. Actually I think Ojulari and Ossai are similar players.