‘Silent assassin’ — Trey Hendrickson receives incredibly creative praise from former teammate in NFL Top 100 reveal
Trey Hendrickson was voted No. 14 in the NFL Top 100 Players of 2025.
Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson has been voted the 14th best player in the NFL by his peers, his highest-ever ranking on the annual NFL Top 100 list.
Hendrickson has now made the list ever year since joining the Bengals in 2021. Even before his time in Cincinnati, he made a memorable impression on the players who knew him well.
Former New Orleans Saints quarterback Jameis Winston, who was Hendrickson’s teammate for a season in 2020, came up with his own way of describing how the the reigning NFL sack-leader gets the job done.
Jameis Winston heaps praise on Trey Hendrickson
When Winston was on the Saints’ sideline watching Hendrickson go to work, he would notice by the end of games No. 91 always found himself represented on the stat sheet no matter how noticeable he made himself to be.
“Silent assassin,” Winston said of Hendrickson. “And the reason I call him that is because even in his time in New Orleans, where he was behind Cam Jordan, he would always end up on the sack numbers, like when you look at the game, he was gonna get him one to two sacks.”
Hendrickson has taken on a larger role since his days behind and alongside Jordan in the Bayou. He’s now regarded as one of the best pass-rushers in the game with a motor that doesn’t stop for anyone. How does Winston put that into words?
“He’s like the story that you read to your kids, like The Little Engine That Could,” Winston said. “He just keeps going and going, and he knows he’s confident in his ability. When he’s on that field, it’s like he just turns into the Incredible Hulk.”
Winston faced off against Hendrickson for the first time last season when the Bengals defeated the Cleveland Browns, 21-14, in Week 7. Poetically, it was Hendrickson who got to Winston for a two-yard sack; one of two on the day for the eventual All-Pro DE.
There won’t be a meeting between Winston and Hendrickson this year unless the New York Giants make it to the Super Bowl and face Cincinnati, but Winston and the rest of the NFL will get to see Hendrickson follow up his incredible 2024 campaign after the 30-year old locked in a $14 million raise for the upcoming season.
The “Silent Assassin” has more sacks to get.
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