(Yesterday, 07:59 PM)PDub80 Wrote: Should Trey Hendrickson get paid more than TJ Watt?

Un my opinion same or a little lower. That is why I think FO may be waiting to see how Steelers handle Watt's extension. He also is on the last year of his contract in 2025.

(Yesterday, 07:59 PM)PDub80 Wrote: Should Trey Hendrickson get paid more than TJ Watt?

No. I think TJ is 2 steps ahead.

(Yesterday, 08:43 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: No. I think TJ is 2 steps ahead.

In this case I kind of agree, Watt has been a Superstar/Household name pretty much since the day he was drafted, much like Garrett. At the same time, just because Trey took some time to develop, the team shouldn't withhold on the two time reigning sack leader. It can be argued that both Watt and Garrett are more dynamic as players than Trey, but lets not forget that Trey also has had 35 TFL that came on rushing downs the past two years, and 61 QB hits to go along with those 35 sacks the past two seasons. 

Since joining the Bengals, Trey is a 4X Pro Bowler and was 1st Team All-Pro this year and 2nd in DPOY. He's more than earned his right to ask to be paid accordingly. If the Bengals fail to do right by Trey, after screwing up the Jesse Bates situation, it sets a bad tone for any defenders of promise that make their way into the Bengals lineup.

(Yesterday, 07:01 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: Really, at every position how many guys come in as average and improve to good to great players?

On the oline,  guys like Jonah were good as rookies and declined. 

Kind of points to coaching. But we've changed coaches and it kept happening.

I do not think we have had a good Oline coach here since Zac Taylor has taken over.

Any rookie needs to be coached up they have a certain set of skills to get them drafted but they need to get better to make good NFL players.

So, development always falls on the position coaches and head coach IMO that is whose jobs are on the line for lack of player development.

Some blame can go to OC or DC for lack of opportunity to show it on the field.

(Yesterday, 06:58 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: This thread is funny. We're all coming up with sensible contracts. Give Trey $10 million more this year, then $28 million the next 2 years with incentives.

Oh...if only it were that easy. My guess is the Bengals have already tried similar based on Katie's comments.

Based on Treys, he doesn't want a shorter deal and he wants to be among the top paid. 

Precisely 

(Yesterday, 08:43 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: No. I think TJ is 2 steps ahead.

Certainly 1. Maybe if it was 2018-2021 Twatt I would agree, but right now I think 2 is 1 step too many. His last three years have included his 1st and 3rd worst sack seasons of his career. Plus when the playoffs roll around, Twatt kinda vanishes despite always having good players (including a possible HoF DT) around him to take pressure off him.


In his 4 playoff games (they had a 5th he missed) he has just 1 sack... opposing teams score an average of 40.75 points in those games and run for a hair over 5.0ypc. 

Last season's playoff game he got blanked from the traditional stat sheet entirely. His only advanced stats were 2 pressures and 2 missed tackles.

Trey Hendrickson is the 20th highest paid DE in 2025.

When the Bengals signed him in 2021, he was the 5th highest paid that year.

In 2022, Hendrickson was the 26th highest paid edge defender.

In 2023, they agreed to an extension and Hendrickson moved up to the 10th highest…

— Goodberry (@JoeGoodberry) May 15, 2025

Seems based off this. He's happy being in the top 10.

(Yesterday, 08:34 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: Un my opinion same or a little lower. That is why I think FO may be waiting to see how Steelers handle Watt's extension. He also is on the last year of his contract in 2025.

if both teams are undecided, lets do a trade.. Watt for Trey

(Yesterday, 11:24 PM)NUGDUKWE Wrote:

Trey Hendrickson is the 20th highest paid DE in 2025.

When the Bengals signed him in 2021, he was the 5th highest paid that year.

In 2022, Hendrickson was the 26th highest paid edge defender.

In 2023, they agreed to an extension and Hendrickson moved up to the 10th highest…

— Goodberry (@JoeGoodberry) May 15, 2025

Seems based off this. He's happy being in the top 10.

woah, he went from top 5 to 26th in 2022 within a year? woaaaaaaaaaaaaah... he should have fired his agent there and then.. wow!

(5 hours ago)Bengalitis Wrote: if both teams are undecided, lets do a trade.. Watt for Trey

How doe the help? Then both teams still have a guy wanted to be extended in 2025.

(Yesterday, 02:49 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: Wouldn't incentives be more fair for both parties? It seems Trey wants to be paid for his past accomplishments.

The NFL is a what have you done lately business. Like others have said, if he believes in himself, he will hit the same numbers in the future he is hitting now. If he does or exceeds them the incentive should reward him for it whether in year 1 (existing contract) or year 3.

I don't think Trey is going to take an offer that does not pay him in years 2 and 3. Why would he?

You should pay him more right now, as Rfaulk said, and you say it is a what have you done for me lately league. He should be paid top 10 
as he might be the best pure pass rusher in the NFL, but isn't near as good at stopping the run as the other top Ends like Garrett and Maxx.

Guaranteed money right now for the guy and I bet he would take it. Ja'Marr and Tee's deals are backloaded too, so it just makes sense and
Trey could get more years in his deal without hurting the team. I think he could last as a rotational pass rusher, but not as an every down 
End just the same.

(Yesterday, 05:06 PM)Nately120 Wrote: Keep in mind too that we as fans are hoping that our new DC is going to be so much better than Lou that players who have shown very little ability to play defense are going to looked markedly better.  Shouldn't we assume that Trey who managed to lead the league in sacks under Lou's player-killing leadership is going to be much better as well?

The guy lead the league in sacks playing for Lou while Lou was supposedly making our players worse.

Uh, not the same thing. Trey is asked to rush the passer and seal the edge in the running game, he isn't the dude that tackles on the backend
or the play caller or communicator on Defense. The problem with Lou's Defense is they gave up explosive plays and couldn't tackle worth a lick.

If Golden can fix these things everything should be better. Trey has nothing to fix honestly, he just needs to be himself and get after the QB.

This is why I think Shemar Stewart will be much more productive here with Trey on the other side of him.

(Yesterday, 06:07 PM)BengalsBong Wrote: There is a big difference between LB and Safety that need to read and react to plays in an over complicated system as opposed to a guy that pins his ears back and just gets after the QB.

One relies on the system more while the other is purely athletic ability and beating the guy across from you.

The big issue with Lou and the last D-line coach was not developing the young guys coming out of college on the D-line.

Lou was not willing to change his system to fit the players, and the D-line coach was not getting progress out of the D-linemen developing.

Beat me to it. Well said Bong.

They should know by now what they plan on doing with Hendrickson. Either pay him or they should have traded him. How else do they think this is going to end? This is a self inflicted wound. If he would have been traded before the draft after Chase and Tee's big contracts it would have been supported and understood. Even with the hole it would have left on the roster. Now it's just a messy distraction only set to get worse.

And there is no way now of replacing him or even half of his production if traded.

(4 hours ago)jj22 Wrote: They should know by now what they plan on doing with Hendrickson. Either pay him or they should have traded him. How else do they think this is going to end? This is a self inflicted wound. If he would have been traded before the draft after Chase and Tee's big contracts it would have been supported and understood. Even with the hole it would have left on the roster. Now it's just a messy distraction only set to get worse.

And there is no way now of replacing him or even half of his production if traded.

If it is a self inflicted wound it is Trey and his agent doing it to themselves IMO. Even if we don't know the exact details they gave Trey an offer
and it was reportedly over 30 mil per year. Should of taken it. I don't defend the FO often, but they signed Ja'Marr to the biggest non QB deal 
and paid Tee enough to make him happy and brought back BJ Hill and Mike G and others and even added a Guard, NT and a LB in FA.

Not like they have been sitting on their hands like we could say in the past.

(5 hours ago)Bengalitis Wrote: woah, he went from top 5 to 26th in 2022 within a year? woaaaaaaaaaaaaah... he should have fired his agent there and then.. wow!

Hendrickson's biggest mistake he made wasn't not firing his agent (though he'd probably be in a better situation today if he had hired a David Mulugheta or someone like that about two years ago), it was the mistake of taking the Bengals FO at their word that they'd take care of him later if he kept performing.

"I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today." ...but with tens of millions of dollars on the line instead.

(3 hours ago)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: If it is a self inflicted wound it is Trey and his agent doing it to themselves IMO. Even if we don't know the exact details they gave Trey an offer
and it was reportedly over 30 mil per year. Should of taken it. I don't defend the FO often, but they signed Ja'Marr to the biggest non QB deal 
and paid Tee enough to make him happy and brought back BJ Hill and Mike G and others and even added a Guard, NT and a LB in FA.

Not like they have been sitting on their hands like we could say in the past.

Then you can't say he should have taken it.

They also "reportedly" offered Chase a big deal last offseason, but the "guaranteed" money didn't actually become guaranteed until four years later. The exact details are the only things that actually matter, Nate. 

Michael Vick signed a "5yr/$80m" deal with the Eagles in 2011. He never even saw half of that. In 2013 he was on a 1yr/$7.5m deal. DETAILS MATTER.

The Bengals always "reportedly" offer FAs who leave a "fair" deal and then years later we find out it wasn't even CLOSE to competitive to the other offers. We saw it with Housh, we saw it with JJo, we saw it with Marvin Jones, we saw it with Whit. Yet somehow here you are again just believing the line.

(3 hours ago)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Then you can't say he should have taken it.

They also "reportedly" offered Chase a big deal last offseason, but the "guaranteed" money didn't actually become guaranteed until four years later. The exact details are the only things that actually matter, Nate. 

Michael Vick signed a "5yr/$80m" deal with the Eagles in 2011. He never even saw half of that. In 2013 he was on a 1yr/$7.5m deal. DETAILS MATTER.

The Bengals always "reportedly" offer FAs who leave a "fair" deal and then years later we find out it wasn't even CLOSE to competitive to the other offers. We saw it with Housh, we saw it with JJo, we saw it with Marvin Jones, we saw it with Whit. Yet somehow here you are again just believing the line.

Good points as usual. All I know is the deals for Ja'Marr and Tee were very similar to the offers that were reported before hand.

Trey also isn't as all around of an End as say Garrett or Crosby and doesn't play nearly as many snaps and he is older. It was reported 32 mil 
per year was offered to Trey, if that is even close I think he should of taken it as it would be double what he is being paid now.

Just me, I would of taken double lol

(3 hours ago)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Hendrickson's biggest mistake he made wasn't not firing his agent (though he'd probably be in a better situation today if he had hired a David Mulugheta or someone like that about two years ago), it was the mistake of taking the Bengals FO at their word that they'd take care of him later if he kept performing.

"I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today." ...but with tens of millions of dollars on the line instead.

I know you like Mulegheta, but I personally liked what Tee did and fired the guy and added Ja'Marr's agent so he could get a deal done with his team.

I think Trey ought to think about doing the same and adding the agent that got his teammate's deals done.

(3 hours ago)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Good points as usual. All I know is the deals for Ja'Marr and Tee were very similar to the offers that were reported before hand.

Trey also isn't as all around of an End as say Garrett or Crosby and doesn't play nearly as many snaps and he is older. It was reported 32 mil 
per year was offered to Trey, if that is even close I think he should of taken it as it would be double what he is being paid now.

Just me, I would of taken double lol

If it's ACTUALLY double, then yes agreed he should take actually double. The problem is money you'll never see isn't double of anything.

(Just using numbers to explain my point, rather than accuracy of this specific situation with Trey.)

You currently make $1m/yr. I offer you a 3yr/$6m contract with $1.8m guaranteed.

Year 1: You get paid $900k
Year 2: You get paid $900k
Year 3: You get paid $4.2m

I fire you after Year 2.

Did you double what you were getting paid by accepting my deal? 

Even if you make it more realistic with $1.3m/$1.7m/$3m, the point still remains. You're not getting double. It gets even worse if we're saying that $2m/yr I am "offering" is including incentives. Are the incentives plausible to reach? Are you personally capable of making those incentives reached? (Trey can't single-handedly decide if we win the AFCC or SB, that's a team incentive, not an individual one, he can't help if it Volson starts yet again and gets Joe hurt.) So what if really I am offering a 3yr/$6m deal and it's actually a 3yr/$4m deal with $2m in incentives that you'll probably only reach 25% of? Then you plug that into the previous formula again.

- - - - - - -

Davante Adams signed a 5yr/$140m ($28m/yr) deal with the Raiders. 
He saw 3yr/$67.56m ($22.52m) of that despite putting up 3,700+ yards and 30 TDs.

He was "offered" $28m/yr. He didn't GET $28m/yr, he got only 80% of that.

The details are all that actually matter in a contract offer. The large numbers are a whole lot of smoke and mirrors for a press release if the details don't back it up.



Until we know the details, the Hendrickson offer could be "fair" or it could be adding a bunch of fluff numbers that he'll never see while he gets vastly underpaid compared to the market. So you can't tell him he should take it until then.

(Yesterday, 07:59 PM)PDub80 Wrote: Should Trey Hendrickson get paid more than TJ Watt?

Yes. But it is pretty close. 

Trey had way better pass rush numbers and way less help. Probably Trey as pure pass rusher. Overall, Watt probably has a slight edge. Garrett a bigger one. 

Trey lead the league in sacks, pressures, quick pressures, and sack rate. Led in sacks created with 26 while no one else had more than 14 IIRC. 3rd in quick pressure rate.

https://charlieschalkboard.substack.com/p/what-trey-hendrickson-is-and-what

Now, Trey is not a great run defender. And he takes himself out of some plays getting too wide/upfield too much. 

I think Garrett is clearly better & more well rounded. But Watt is more questionable.

PFF: 
Player: Overall, Pass, Run
Garrett: 92.3, 92.8, 78.4
Hendrickson: 88.1, 90.4, 65.9
Watt: 92.2, 90.1, 90.4

(2 hours ago)Isaac Curtis: The Real #85 Wrote: Yes. But it is pretty close. 

Trey had way better pass rush numbers and way less help. Probably Trey as pure pass rusher. Overall, Watt probably has a slight edge. Garrett a bigger one. 

Trey lead the league in sacks, pressures, quick pressures, and sack rate. Led in sacks created with 26 while no one else had more than 14 IIRC. 3rd in quick pressure rate.

https://charlieschalkboard.substack.com/p/what-trey-hendrickson-is-and-what

Now, Trey is not a great run defender. And he takes himself out of some plays getting too wide/upfield too much. 

I think Garrett is clearly better & more well rounded. But Watt is more questionable.

PFF: 
Player: Overall, Pass, Run
Garrett: 92.3, 92.8, 78.4
Hendrickson: 88.1, 90.4, 65.9
Watt: 92.2, 90.1, 90.4

I am tying to understand how Trey is ranked 65.9% againts the run aand 90.4 against the pass and that equals 88.1% overall? Shouldn't his overall be closer to 80.0%?

People want to ignore ho wpoor he is against the run when camparing him to the best like Watt. But, to get pai as much, he needs to be much better againts the run. No way he should expect Watt money or Garrett based on his results in my opinion. My hunch is Trey and a lot of our fans are over valuing his overall game.