The stats make it very clear Cincinnati has no choice but to pay the star edge rusher.
The Cincinnati Bengals’ front office is playing hardball with Trey Hendrickson.
But they may be tanking their team’s chances of winning games in the process.
Not only did Hendrickson record 17.5 sacks in back-to-back seasons, but he single-handedly made the defense above average in several categories, as analyst Warren Sharp points out in the Twitter post below (be sure to read his entire thread).
reading about how Trey Hendrickson is “extremely dug in”
he should be
with him not playing (off the field), Cincy’s pass D last 2 yrs:
#32 pressure %
#32 completion %
#32 success %
#32 passer ratingwith him on the field, Cincy’s def ranks TOP-12 in EVERY ONE OF THOSE STATS
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) May 29, 2025
As you can see, over the last two seasons, the Bengals’ defense was last in pressure percentage, completion percentage, success percentage, and passer rating allowed.
Meanwhile, with Hendrickson on the field, the Bengals were in the top 12 for each of those stats.
That’s about as much of a mic drop as possible if you’re Hendrickson’s agent.
Will it matter? Probably not.
Still, fans are holding out hope that the two sides can see eye to eye soon.
So far, it hasn’t been good, as we highlighted in the short video below.
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