Bengals fumbling the Trey Hendrickson saga comes back to humiliate them in unprecedented fashion
The Cincinnati Bengals were about to add to their pass rush by trading for Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Arnold Ebiketie. The deal is now off, and it has everything to do with how they managed the end of Trey Hendrickson’s time in Cincinnati.
The Cincinnati Bengals were about to add to their pass rush by trading for Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Arnold Ebiketie. Now, the deal is off.
Cincinnati’s agreed upon trade for Ebiketie, which would’ve cost the club a sixth-round pick, has been cancelled by the Bengals. The deal would’ve taken away the Bengals’ potential third-round compensatory pick in the 2027 NFL Draft, as Ebiketie was a 2026 free agent signing and would’ve cancelled out the comp pick Cincinnati is supposed to get for letting Trey Hendrickson leave in free agency.
We’ve never quite seen a trade get erased because of something like this, and for it all to be played out online? Embarrassing. This is a huge organizational misfire from all angles.
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Bengals whiff on replacing rookie Cashius Howell
Cincinnati only played four defensive ends during their 34-17 Week 9 win on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons. The club lost second-round pick Cashius Howell to a wrist injury, and will be without him for an unknown period of time.
Ebiketie, who played just 48% of Philly’s snaps this season, was supposed to come in and bring the depth the Bengals lost on the edge of their defensive line.
Howell was the No. 3 EDGE behind starters Boye Mafe and Myles Murphy. Mafe, a major free agent signing this offseason, has been one of the premier pass rushers in the league. Murphy has more pressures (11) than any EDGE in the NFL over the last two weeks.
Instead of simply leaning on last year’s first-round pick Shemar Stewart and key backup Cedric Johnson, Cincy planned to bring in a player with 16.5 career sacks who just never quite got going in a new defense this season for the Eagles. Last season for the Atlanta Falcons, Ebiketie produced a pass rush win rate of 16.8%, the 12th-highest among EDGEs with significant snaps.
All of this stems from botching the Trey Hendrickson saga
Whether or not the Bengals learned of their ignorance from social media is unknown. This is an embarrassing development for the franchise, and it all comes back to why they pulled the plug.
Cincinnati is counting on getting something from letting Hendrickson walk this offseason. His contract from the Baltimore Ravens was large enough to net a third-rounder in next year’s draft, but only if the club lost more ’26 free agents than it gained. Ebiketie wasn’t a free agent signing by the Bengals, but he would’ve counted as one in this deal.
Their insistence on getting a pick back for Hendrickson’s departure is why this deal is toast. It all could’ve been avoided.
Hendrickson’s 2025 offseason was grossly mismanaged by Cincinnati. He desired a market-value extension, but the Bengals didn’t see him at that level. Despite that, they also wouldn’t trade him away for anything less than a first-round pick. The Indianapolis Colts were among teams heavily interested in the process, but weren’t willing to go beyond a Day 2 selection.
Had Cincy paid Hendrickson before his market grew, or cut its losses for a pick that’s more valuable than a future third-round comp pick, the front office wouldn’t have to have dedicated its entire offseason process around preserving the pick it may get for letting him walk. Ebiketie would be a Bengal by the end of the day, and the entire organization wouldn’t be the subject of deserved ridicule.
Cincinnati may’ve salvaged its extra third-round draft pick, but its organizational competency just took an undeniable hit for all to see.
