What’s going to happen with Trey Hendrickson?
That’s the question on everyone’s mind as the first day of the NFL’s “legal tampering” negotiating period concludes on Monday night. Obviously, there’s still tons of time for the Cincinnati Bengals‘ edge rusher to find a deal. But him not landing one quickly could be cause for slight concern.
There was a lot of money given out to edge players on Monday.
Jaelan Phillips got a $120 million commitment from the Carolina Panthers.
Odafe Oweh’s contract was $100 million to go to the Washington Commanders.
Hendrickson is a more accomplished player than them, but he also has things working against him, too.
ESPN’s Ben Solak summed up the whole confusion in a post on X on Monday night.
“Man I’ve got no idea what the Trey Hendrickson market is going to be,” Solak writes. “The EDGE market exploded today, and Hendrickson is older and not a three down player. Weird spot (right now).”
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His reference to Hendrickson not being a three-down player is because Hendrickson grades out poorly on run downs.
A team that signs him will eventually have to use him more situationally on passing downs only, although maybe that wouldn’t happen immediately.
The Dallas Cowboys have often been connected to Hendrickson, but they have negative cap space, which can only be fixed so much.
Hendrickson should still do well for himself, but there’s a chance this one drags on for a while.
