Trey Hendrickson puts his foot down and fully ingratiates himself with Bengals fans in one fell swoop during Radio Row interview
How many times have you ever heard an NFL player admit he'd be fine with getting traded if it meant his then former team could win a Super Bowl? I can't personally come up with a prior example before Cincinnati Bengals All-Pro defensive end Trey Hendrickson.In an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show Wednesday afternoon […]
How many times have you ever heard an NFL player admit he'd be fine with getting traded if it meant his then former team could win a Super Bowl? I can't personally come up with a prior example before Cincinnati Bengals All-Pro defensive end Trey Hendrickson.
In an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show Wednesday afternoon down at the site of Super Bowl LIX, Hendrickson addressed his immediate future in Cincinnati and covered a ton of ground in such a short amount of time.
Hendrickson, who's entering the last year of his current contract with the Bengals, started by clarifying his preference to stay in Cincinnati with a contract extension and to get that out of the way before the offseason program starts up in the spring.
"I think the offseason is a good spot to kind of address these kind of issues that do come up and during the season," Hendrickson said. "When you're talking about OTAs or [training] camp, you know, you don't want to become a distraction for the team."
Hendrickson notably dealt with this last offseason and made sure to avoid being the very distraction he referred to. The bigger picture is always at stake.
"Inevitably, the goal is to win a Super Bowl for Cincinnati."
Ensuring his future is in good hands before the real preparation begins is what Hendrickson truly wants, but if the front office doesn't see eye-to-eye with what he financially wants, the 30-year old Defensive Player of the Year finalist still wants the team to do what it can to win it all.
Even if that means trading him for NFL Draft picks to make it happen.
"What that looks like this season. You know, if it's something that we can agree on in terms, that would be great," Hendrickson said. "Ideally, my wife and I would love to stay in Cincinnati. If it's something that helps the Bengals win a Super Bowl, if they get picks, or anything like that, I want to help win a Super Bowl for Cincinnati if I'm there or not."
There's no other way to interpret what Hendrickson said. He wants the pay-raise that he deserves, or wants to be traded in order to get said pay-raise and the team can recoup the proper assets to go on without him. Keeping him on the roster this year without touching his contract is simply not an option.
McAfee mentioned that these topics came up thanks to director of player personnel Duke Tobin speaking on them last week at the Senior Bowl. Hendrickson said he found out what Tobin said about him via a text from his father.
"Yeah, I would have preferred to kind of heard it differently than my dad texting me a tweet," Hendrickson said. "You know, that would have been great to kind of figure it out that way. But, you know, obviously the table is being set in that way. But I love to play football. I love for my play to do the talking. And at the end of the day, I think the chips will fall where they're going to be. And like I said, whether whatever happens, I want to win a Super Bowl for Cincinnati."
Hendrickson slyly admitting the team hasn't communicated to him about his contract status yet is another indictment on the front office. He's not the first player to call the team out in this fashion, and unless things change, he won't be the last. If Hendrickson wants this taken care of sooner than later, there's no good reason why these talks didn't already begin prior to last week. It's in the Bengals' best interest to get a clear financial picture ahead of free agency next month anyways.
Objectively speaking, this was an A+ showing from Hendrickson at the microphone. He made it clear he wants what he's rightfully earned, he wants it from the Bengals, but if there is no agreement, he wants the team to do what their alternative should be anyways. Keeping Hendrickson around for one more year without the intent of extending his contract is the very last thing Cincinnati should be considering.
Good on him to tell it how it is.