When the Bengals shocked the whole NFL by renewing their two dynamic receivers, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, for a combined $276M extensions, the Jungle was buzzing with excitement. There were no more jibes at the Bengals being cheap in their contractual dealings. They did what was supposed to be done and retained the core of their offense. But since those mammoth contracts, the Bengals have yet again backtracked to their burrow. Their offense might be sorted. However, their defense still presents question marks on their true commitment. Considering their reigning NFL sack leader, Trey Hendrickson, remains unextended. The Bengals’ window is running out quickly.
Given the state of their defense, which cost the Bengals a postseason ticket, their approach to Hendrickson’s contract is questionable. The 33rd Team’s Ian Valentino wrote, “In most situations, money can help erase all hard feelings, but the Cincinnati Bengals don’t seem too concerned with appeasing Trey Hendrickson.” Hendrickson also stated earlier in April that the Bengals are lacking the urgency to sort his future out.
“Communication has been poor over the last couple of months..They have not communicated with my agent directly. It’s been something that’s been a little bit frustrating.” Bengals’ arguably best defensive player is set to earn just $15.8M on his initial $60M contract. And the rest of the elite pass rushers like Maxx Crosby and Myles Garrett are slated to play on $35.5M and $40M annual contracts. Now, with only 3 days left of the NFL draft, the Bengals have issued another update on Hendrickson’s contract.
As they opened their offseason voluntary workouts today, their director of player personnel, Duke Tobin, said, “There’s no real new information on Trey. I’m glad he’s on our team. He’s been incredibly productive. I’m glad he’s here.” Translation? Tobin and the Bengals are just grateful that Hendrickson ain’t leaning towards a potential holdout given the status of his contract.
Neither have they managed to agree on an extension, nor have they found a potential trade partner. Hendrickson was touted to attract at least a first-round pick. But for some reason, franchises haven’t shown a clear interest in getting the NFL’s sack leader. This means their window for getting much-needed draft capital is also waning quickly. Considering the Bengals only have 6 picks in the upcoming draft, they have found themselves in a tough position. And the defense that massively underperformed last season still remains unattended.
Bengals’ defense continues to pull them down from thriving at the top
After the Bengals narrowly missed out on the playoffs, they moved on from their defensive coordinator, Lou Anarumo. And named Notre Dame’s DC Al Golden as his replacement. Golden is coming into a franchise that has only finished once in the top ten for points allowed since 2016. Well, coming down from Notre Dame, which ranked fifth in yards allowed in 2023. Golden’s attention instantly led him to talk about the Bengals’ lack of disruptive tackling. “We want to be really good at tackling and doing the little things well.”
Bengals were completely abysmal in tackling last season. PPF’s report stated that the Bengals missed 116 tackles last season. That was the eighth-worst in the whole NFL. Cleaning that up may help the Bengals turn their 2025 season around. Golden also added, “You identify what the errors are and are those errors systematic? If so, you have to take a hard look at yourself and say Ok what can we change? We are going to teach it. We are going to drill it, We are going to show the application to the game then we are going to show the standard.”
Cincinnati was 31st in yards allowed and 21st in points allowed last season. That’s the primary reason they missed the playoffs for two consecutive seasons. With Golden’s arrival, the Bengals will be hoping they can turn a new leaf on the defense. If not, then all the hype surrounding their offense could also evaporate if the defense continues to stumble.