Trey Hendrickson all but confirms Bengals fans’ worst fear

The Trey Hendrickson situation between the star edge rusher and the Cincinnati Bengals is getting nastier by the day. Earlier in the day on Tuesday, Hendrickson showed up dressed to impress, just so he could speak with the media about what all is going on. Hendrickson has played his best football since coming over to the Bengals in 2021. He is under contract for one more season at $21 million.

Frankly, both parties have a reputation to uphold. For Hendrickson, he must continue to prove his doubters wrong as one of the best edge rushers in the game. As for the Bengals, no franchise will find ways to cut corners financially than the poorest in the sport. Something has to give in this situation. It has resulted in Hendrickson losing his mind over money. When money is on the mind, this will happen.

Hendrickson put it bluntly in both a comedic and sad dig at the Bengals about them being so cheap.

“If I sat here with four sacks, they’d want a pay cut and some money back. ... I’m not going to apologize for the rates being paid to defensive ends in the National Football League.”

With how the league is going, Hendrickson should be paid like a top-four defensive end in football.

Communication has never been a Bengals strength. Let's hope their Xerox machine is not jammed.

Trey Hendrickson puts forth fighting words with the Cincinnati Bengals

I often joke that owners like Mike Brown would sell one of his own kidneys to make five bucks. Prior to Josh Harris buying the Washington Commanders, I used to refer to Cincinnati, Washington and the Los Angeles Chargers as the Unholy Triumvirate of NFL Cheapskates. Cincinnati and Los Angeles have never won a Super Bowl before. Washington ruined its brand over the course of three decades.

The shame in it all is that the Bengals have drafted very well in recent years. Oftentimes, their big swings in NFL free agency, like the one they made in prying Hendrickson away from the New Orleans Saints, regularly work out. Unfortunately, they do not make it a point to take care of the people who take care of them. They have not turned on Joe Burrow yet like they did Carson Palmer, but that day is coming.

At this point in time, nothing Hendrickson says is going to convince Brown and the Blackburns to deviate from their plan of action. Cincinnati is often an NFL punching bag in these sorts of situations, but their ownership seems to be more than okay of getting harpooned like a 19th-century New England whale on the regular. All I know is every prospective free agent is seeing this all unfold here.

Hendrickson has earned the right to be paid handsomely, but Cincinnati may not budge on this yet.