Pittsburgh Steelers' fans are still reeling from the recent news surrounding Cam Heyward's hold-in at training camp, but leave it to the Bengals to make them feel a little bit better. Cincinnati's ongoing contract talks with star edge rusher Trey Hendrickson have taken yet another turn.
According to multiple sources, the Bengals are listening to trade offers for their best defender, with contract talks still going nowhere. It's no surprise for a franchise that has consistently struggled to retain its top talent on defense. Just look at what Jessie Bates is doing in Atlanta on a reasonable contract.
If a trade does ultimately happen, many will wonder why they didn't make it happen earlier when his value would have been higher. Now that the season is just weeks away, any team that acquires him at this point will have little time to get him up to speed in a new defense.
Bengals' potential loss of Trey Hendrickson is the Pittsburgh Steelers' gain
The Bengals' decision to play hardball with their best defensive player is baffling, to put it nicely. For a team that seems to be going all in after paying both of their elite wide receivers, the lack of urgency to get a new deal done for Hendrickson simply makes no sense.
Those big deals for Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins definitely make an extension harder to figure out, but it's well known at this point that the cap can be manipulated if a team really needs to create space. The problem, at least what it seems to be, is their unwillingness to push money into the future to open up more space for the present.
That has been the go-to strategy for teams like the Eagles and Saints, allowing them to seemingly sign whoever they want without running out of space. It requires an owner to be willing to put aside big sums of money for guaranteed contracts, something that Bengals' owner Mike Brown has only recently started to do.
That is how they managed to retain their receivers, but it may cost them the only difference maker on a young defense.
The Steelers would love to see Hendrickson head out the door, not only because it would weaken one of their division rivals, but because of his dominance against them since joining Cincinnati. He has 9.5 sacks in eight games against Pittsburgh, including 3.5 in 2024.
With the Ravens still the heavy favorite to win the AFC North and the Browns once again one of the NFL's worst teams, it's the Bengals that are the Steelers' biggest competition for a playoff spot in the AFC. Without Hendrickson in the fold, the odds would shift strongly in Pittsburgh's favor.