1 hour ago, sparky151 said:

If the Bengals tell Trey they are going to tag him and plan to trade him to to the team offering the Bengals the best deal, Trey would likely sign the tender to facilitate the trade. The Bengals would want to get the deal done at the opening of the new league year to free up the 30 mil in cap space he takes up (whether he's signed the tender or not). He'd want to get a head start on the market with the Bengals permission before other teams have spent their money on Oweh or Bosa or whomever. No team will make a deal with the Bengals without reaching agreement with Hendrickson on a longer term deal, which is what he wants.

That would work on paper. The key missing piece…would be that the prospective team could not talk directly to Trey about specifics of that “long term deal”. The Bengals might get some data—as it would be part of the “trade”—but of this I am not certain.

As I said before, this is not “sign and trade”—because the trading team will have already signed the player before getting the goods from the other team. I suppose it could be done here also, but if that is the case, why trade him?

Other teams can negotiate with Hendrickson with the Bengals approval. They just need to sign a waiver of the tampering rules to his agent. That can be done this league year to give him a head start. Of course the Bengals would only trade him to the team of his choice if they give the Bengals a good offer. Last year the team let him shop himself around, even though he wasn't a free agent and this would just be a repeat of that.

2 hours ago, sparky151 said:

Of course the Bengals would only trade him to the team of his choice if they give the Bengals a good offer.

And that...is the strong hand at the table.

Unless they've got another DE lined up in free agency that's capable of posting double-digit sacks, I'd be trying to sign him to a one year deal. I'm sure they can get him for less than the tag number, they've got loads of cap space, and they've got no one else worth mentioning at the position.

Easy enough to talk about "moving on" until the alternative is Stewart out there tackling the ref & running the wrong direction.

Cincinnati Bengals On SI

Bengals Star Trey Hendrickson Projected to Sign Massive D...

Huge money for Trey Hendrickson.

Doubt he'd take a 2 year 40 mil offer

2 hours ago, Jungletiger said:

Cincinnati Bengals On SI

Bengals Star Trey Hendrickson Projected to Sign Massive D...

Huge money for Trey Hendrickson.

Doubt he'd take a 2 year 40 mil offer

Definitely not.

Maybe play for tag though if Bengals keep him.

This all still up on the air all way around..

His tag number is 30.2 mil. I'm sure he'd prefer a multi-year contract though. Bengals should tag and trade him. Don't drag it out, just find the team willing to pay him The Athletic's projected contract and strike a deal with them for Trey.

1 hour ago, sparky151 said:

His tag number is 30.2 mil. I'm sure he'd prefer a multi-year contract though. Bengals should tag and trade him. Don't drag it out, just find the team willing to pay him The Athletic's projected contract and strike a deal with them for Trey.

Something about one of the worst defenses in NFL history trading away their only veteran impact player seems unwise to me

1 hour ago, T-Dub said:

Something about one of the worst defenses in NFL history trading away their only veteran impact player seems unwise to me

He’s also a year older (31), entering his 10th season, and coming off surgery. I think it’s better to let someone else give him a golden parachute and spread his cap hit over multiple new players on defense and/or OL.

2 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

He’s also a year older (31), entering his 10th season, and coming off surgery. I think it’s better to let someone else give him a golden parachute and spread his cap hit over multiple new players on defense and/or OL.

It would be better, certainly, assuming they can identify $30-40M+ worth of talent and then sign them all.

6 hours ago, T-Dub said:

Something about one of the worst defenses in NFL history trading away their only veteran impact player seems unwise to me

How much was 4.5 sacks at 30 mil last year?

Injury?..yes..

Bengals loss not Hendrickson . He was paid.

Not even chancing this again.

Time to move for both..

11 hours ago, T-Dub said:

It would be better, certainly, assuming they can identify $30-40M+ worth of talent and then sign them all.

It's been done before. I remember when Carl Lawson (who?) was off the board very early in free agency to the Jets for $15M APY. And then when William Jackson III followed not long after to the Washington for $13.5M APY (traded one year later) and Bengaldom decided to have a typical early free agency meltdown. They decided to instead sign Trey Hendrickson for not only the same APY as Lawson but one year longer. They then went on to also add Awuzie, Hilton and Ogunjobi in that same free agency period.

47 minutes ago, Dautcom08 said:

It's been done before. I remember when Carl Lawson (who?) was off the board very early in free agency to the Jets for $15M APY. And then when William Jackson III followed not long after to the Washington for $13.5M APY (traded one year later) and Bengaldom decided to have a typical early free agency meltdown. They decided to instead sign Trey Hendrickson for not only the same APY as Lawson but one year longer. They then went on to also add Awuzie, Hilton and Ogunjobi in that same free agency period.

If only that short period of time was the norm for this team instead of the rare.

They need to repeat that type of offseason work but there is little indication they have the ability to do so.

And we do still have the Golden Showers issue.

15 hours ago, T-Dub said:

It would be better, certainly, assuming they can identify $30-40M+ worth of talent and then sign them all.

They did sign multiple free agents in 2020 and 2021 that were impact players. Reader, Bell, Hendrickson, Hilton, and Awuzie. Definitely seems like a better use of resources than putting $30 million plus into an aging, surgically repaired player looking for his retirement contract.

4 hours ago, I_C_Deadpeople said:

If only that short period of time was the norm for this team instead of the rare.

They need to repeat that type of offseason work but there is little indication they have the ability to do so.

And we do still have the Golden Showers issue.

They technically did it two years in a row in 2020 and 2021 as previously mentioned. And then really haven't had to do it again because (most) of those guys were under contract until recent along with re-signing guys like Burrow, Chase, Higgins, Wilson, Hill, Pratt, Hendrickson, etc. The crux of the problem that has created the current state is, some of those re-signings had huge fall-offs and the drafting to backfill / bolster hasn't panned out.

Point is though, they've done it in FA when needed and they can do it again.

21 hours ago, T-Dub said:

Something about one of the worst defenses in NFL history trading away their only veteran impact player seems unwise to me

They could let him walk and sign elsewhere. Maybe they'd get a comp pick in 2027 but probably not. They need to add more free agents than they lose. If they tag Hendrickson and trade him, they can get something for sure and this year. In the mock offseason I'm in, I was able to trade him to the Cowboys for pick 12 (after eating his 18 mil signing bonus on a new contract). IRL, the team won't get that much but if the Raiders are asking 2 1s for Maxx Crosby, the Bengals should be able to get at least a 2 for Hendrickson.

If the Bengals tag Trey and don't trade him, they don't seem inclined to give him the multi-year contract he wants. So July 15 comes and goes and he hasn't signed the tender. It would just be another summer of drama. I think all parties are tired of it and ready to move on.

Dehner's piece today was about the pros and cons of trading for Crosby. Nobody is holding their breath for that.

49 minutes ago, Dautcom08 said:

They technically did it two years in a row in 2020 and 2021 as previously mentioned. And then really haven't had to do it again because (most) of those guys were under contract until recent along with re-signing guys like Burrow, Chase, Higgins, Wilson, Hill, Pratt, Hendrickson, etc. The crux of the problem that has created the current state is, some of those re-signings had huge fall-offs and the drafting to backfill / bolster hasn't panned out.

Point is though, they've done it in FA when needed and they can do it again.

They've signed a bunch of guys in free agency. But mostly they haven't worked out. With the big 3 no longer on rookie deals, they shop the "value" bin and a lot of the value is illusory. Oren Burks started the 2024 Super Bowl for the 49ers and 2025 one for the Eagles. But it turns out he was a backup player for a reason. We all saw why Lucas Patrick was benched at his prior 3 teams, etc.

They have a ridiculous amount of cap space for a team claiming to be a Super Bowl contender. Having those 3 under contract doesn't prevent them from doing anything, other than feeling any pressure because they make the games "exciting" enough to excuse everything else.

The team isn't operating as if they feel any sense of urgency. They don't have to make cuts or do restructures to get cap compliant so they don't. They could get Risner signed easily enough with a pre-emptive offer. They can wait on contract extensions for Hill, Brown, Brown, and Turner if they wish until July. But the small scouting staff is probably getting ready for the combine in Indy rather than looking at veterans for free agency.

4 hours ago, sparky151 said:

The team isn't operating as if they feel any sense of urgency.

..because they don't. They've made that clear enough

10 hours ago, T-Dub said:

..because they don't. They've made that clear enough

Yup, there is always time and when you run out there is always next year....