NFL agent explains why Trey Hendrickson rumors began swirling and where they likely came from
Hendrickson’s future is still in limbo.
Cincinnati Bengals president and owner Mike Brown said a great many things during the team’s media luncheon on July 21. One of them was his stance on trading All-Pro defensive end Trey Hendrickson.
“We are not going to trade Trey,” Brown said to local reporters nearly one month ago. “We are working on getting it done.”
How’s that work coming? Not great, apparently.
Sunday afternoon’s news cycle was centered around reports of the Bengals “listening” to trade offers for Hendrickson with three weeks until the season begins.
Cincinnati also “listened” in March and April when it made significantly more sense to trade Hendrickson if the idea of extending him to a market-matching contract wasn’t their preferred decision.
Trading Hendrickson in the middle of August, after every contending-level franchise put their ducks in a row regarding cap space and roster, will not net the Bengals with return offers that will get them to move the 30-year old veteran.
And that’s a great reason why all this noise is probably just noise.
NFL agent believes Bengals have intent with Trey Hendrickson rumors
The value of alerting the NFL that Hendrickson is still on the table lies in exposing the reality of the situation. An aspiring trade partner needs the cap space, draft capital, and needs a pass-rusher to compete for a Super Bowl while also being willing to give up a pass-rusher, or another player of value in return.
If the Bengals can prove that Hendrickson’s alternatives to taking their offer aren’t attractive, then there’s a chance he becomes more inclined to stop fighting the good fight.
Jesse Taylor James, an agent and NFLPA Certified Contract Advisor, believes this is the club’s angle with the rumors spreading like wildfire.
What it truly comes down to is the aggressiveness of Hendrickson’s market. Is there really going to be a team that swoops in at the last minute to save Cincinnati from paying what virtually every other team would to secure the four-time Pro Bowler’s services? If that team with all the required boxes checked didn’t exist when the peak of the offseason was going down, there’s almost zero chance an answer is going to appear with September creeping up.
Sending an alert to insiders was the literal message. The Bengals are listening to offers from interested teams because they still don’t see eye-to-eye regarding Hendrickson’s extension. The figurative message could simply be what they hope Hendrickson receives: No other team wants to come get you for a worthy price.
Does it help the relationship? Probably not, but the Bengals will do anything to get their way as they’ve always done so. This could very well be another effort to get Hendrickson to fold.
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