05-30-2025, 10:32 AM
(05-29-2025, 01:50 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: His leverage is "don't provide the Bengals with 17.5 sacks and instead make them roll with Myles Murphy and Joseph Ossai as their starting DEs".
The Bengals season would be over before it even began. Yes you are correct that he'd also suffer, but Mutually Assured Destruction is still leverage. It's a time-tested and proven leverage.
This team has proven even with TH's best seasons that they can finish 3rd and 4th in the division with lousy defenses. Could some of that be that they got nothing on the other side at DE? Possibly. Could some be they got almost nothing from an interior pass rush? Possibly. Could some of that be that Trey is a one trick pony in that he's not good against the run? Maybe so. They can finish 3rd/4th again without him, imo, so he's got very little leverage.
Obviously, Cinci. is putting their marbles in being an elite offensive team and outscoring teams and they made him a very nice offer. I'm not saying TH is wrong here but it is what it is at this point. He won't come close to that money if he sits out a year and would be 3 months shy of being 32 when the next season begins.
