{"id":81195,"date":"2025-07-19T06:56:47","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T10:56:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/?p=81195"},"modified":"2025-07-19T06:56:47","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T10:56:47","slug":"trey-hendricksons-contract-dispute-puts-bengals-super-bowl-hopes-in-jeopardy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/trey-hendricksons-contract-dispute-puts-bengals-super-bowl-hopes-in-jeopardy\/81195\/","title":{"rendered":"Trey Hendrickson\u2019s contract dispute puts Bengals\u2019 Super Bowl hopes in jeopardy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Cincinnati Bengals have done their part on offense, securing long-term deals for quarterback Joe Burrow and star receivers Tee Higgins and Ja\u2019Marr Chase. With their offensive core locked in, the team has entered what many believe is its best window to win a Super Bowl. But a glaring issue on defense threatens to derail those hopes: the uncertain status of star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson.<\/p>\n

Hendrickson, who has delivered back-to-back 17.5 sack seasons, is not just a key player, he\u2019s the anchor of Cincinnati\u2019s defensive line. But as of now, he and the Bengals are at odds over a contract extension, and there\u2019s no clear sign of resolution. At 31, Hendrickson is still performing at an elite level, but without a new deal, his future with the team remains up in the air.<\/p>\n

On ESPN\u2019s Get Up<\/em>, analyst Ryan Clark made it clear how crucial Hendrickson is to the Bengals\u2019 Super Bowl aspirations. Asked how badly Joe Burrow needs Hendrickson on the field, Clark didn\u2019t hesitate: \u201cAs bad as a fish needs water.\u201d He pointed to last season as a warning, when despite historic play from Burrow and record-setting performances from Chase, the Bengals failed to make the playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey didn\u2019t make it to the playoffs because, in games where Joe Burrow played absolutely out of his mind, the defense played bad enough for them to lose,\u201d Clark said. \u201cThe one bright spot was Trey Hendrickson, 17.5 sacks, constant pressure, great against the run, a leader on the defensive side.\u201d<\/p>\n

The defensive concerns don\u2019t stop there. Rookie pass rusher Shemar Stewart has yet to sign his contract, leaving Cincinnati without the two players they\u2019re counting on most to generate quarterback pressure. And with former Notre Dame coach Al Golden now leading the defense as coordinator, there are a lot of moving parts, and even more question marks.<\/p>\n

Clark warned that without Hendrickson and Stewart, the Bengals risk wasting what could be one of the best offensive units in football. \u201cThey could be sitting at home with the best quarterback in the world, the best wide receiver duo, and the best offense, watching the playoffs with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a franchise that\u2019s come painfully close in recent years, the message is clear: the time to act is now. And that starts with making sure Trey Hendrickson is in uniform when the 2025 season kicks off.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Cincinnati Bengals have done their part on offense, securing long-term deals for quarterback Joe Burrow and star receivers Tee\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":294,"featured_media":81196,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[28813],"class_list":["post-81195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-trey-hendrickson"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/294"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}