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The Bengals' Defensive Struggles and Hendrickson's Future
SportsGrid
Follow
3/6/2025
Category
🥇
Sports
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00:00
All right, Adam, let's start with the Hendrickson situation.
00:03
I have to tell you just off the top that their problem was defense last year.
00:09
He's the only guy on the entire defense that matters, and they're letting him walk.
00:13
I mean, they must be stupid.
00:15
I don't care what he wants financially.
00:17
They have no defense without him.
00:19
Yeah, Scott, look, a couple things have happened this week with the Bengals defense.
00:24
Sam Hubbard, their other starting defensive end, announced his retirement at 29, which
00:29
is a surprise to a lot of people.
00:31
But the big story is, and I'm going to get into this and explain to you how rare it is,
00:35
the Bengals, our team, if you looked at the last 30 years, rarely make trades.
00:40
They just don't like to do it.
00:42
It's been a thing going from Paul Brown to his son, Mike Brown, to Duke Tobin, whoever
00:48
sees personnel for the Bengals, they just don't like to do it.
00:50
But they did give Trey Hendrickson the permission to seek a trade.
00:53
It doesn't mean they're going to do it, doesn't mean they're going to do it, but you make
00:57
an astute point here.
00:59
Their defense is horrific last season.
01:01
They changed defensive coordinators.
01:04
They're trying to recharge this defense.
01:05
But here's the thing, they want to spend money on offense, not defense.
01:09
Trey Hendrickson, who's in the final year of his deal, wants an extension.
01:13
He signed a deal three years ago.
01:16
Now, let's be honest, it's outdated, but the Bengals have rebuffed his wanting a new deal.
01:26
They've not been open to it, and they've given him permission to seek a trade.
01:30
Now, he does turn 31 in December.
01:34
Sometimes look, when you see these deals come out, and Max Crosby got a monster extension,
01:39
okay?
01:40
A monster extension, which you see with the Miles Garrett deal, whenever Miles Garrett
01:42
gets his extension with the Browns or another team.
01:46
But Trey Hendrickson now, who turns 31 late this coming season, deserves a new deal.
01:53
But you got to be careful when you have an older player.
01:56
Sometimes they drop off, Scott, as you know, in their early 30s or mid-30s, so you got
02:00
to be careful.
02:01
But he absolutely deserves more money.
02:02
He's going to make $16 million this season, vastly underpaid.
02:07
They're middle-of-the-road players at his position that are making more than him.
02:11
And I know it bothers him.
02:12
He wants a new deal.
02:14
And the Bengals right now, I'm fascinated to see what happens here, because, again,
02:17
they don't like to make trades, and you make a really good point.
02:20
They are so bad at defensive end.
02:23
The only guy they've got left, of any note, is Miles Murphy, a first-round pick.
02:28
He hadn't done anything.
02:29
A first-round pick in 2023 out of Clemson, was overdrafted, no sacks last season, three,
02:36
two years ago.
02:37
The thought around the league was he should have been a second-round pick, not a first-round
02:39
pick.
02:40
I get it, Scott.
02:42
They want to put their resources on offense, not defense.
02:45
But if they're trying to compete, this is not the way to do it.
02:48
And they're going to have to vote resources on their offensive line, which is still bad,
02:52
by the way, and on defense.
02:54
But again, they want to spend money.
02:56
They've absolutely said they're going to take care of Jamar Chase.
03:00
They're going to take care of our guy, Tee Higgins.
03:02
I've yet to see that.
03:03
But they never do.
03:04
But they never do.
03:05
And they never do.
03:06
I know.
03:07
And by the way, one more thing I want to mention.
03:08
I talked to Carl Pickens.
03:09
Remember Carl Pickens?
03:10
Of course.
03:11
Yeah, who played for the Bengals, former first-round pick.
03:14
I talked to Carl a couple weeks ago at a business event in Philly.
03:17
He went through it.
03:19
He went through his situation with the Bengals and all the losing and not being competitive.
03:23
It grates on you.
03:24
All their money, they're just with money and spending it and being good on one side of
03:28
the ball and not the other side.
03:30
It grates on you.
03:31
It's really tough to play there.
03:32
And here we are once again.
03:33
Another guy wants out.
03:34
All right.
03:35
Let me go back.
03:36
All right.
03:37
I got to ask you a question.
03:38
Now, I don't want to catch you off guard because I don't know how old they are.
03:41
But do you know how old Crosby is and how old Garrett is?
03:46
Because I'm going to say this right now.
03:49
I think Hendrickson, to me, unequivocally, had way better numbers than Max Crosby.
03:58
He's a better player than Max Crosby.
04:00
I think Max Crosby robbed a bank.
04:03
I cannot believe the money they gave him.
04:06
And I got to tell you, you talk about Miles Garrett, to me, he's as old as Hendrickson.
04:12
At least I think he is.
04:13
I don't know exactly how old he is.
04:15
But Hendrickson has the same kind of numbers.
04:19
Two years older.
04:20
All right.
04:21
Fair enough.
04:22
If anyone deserves the money, it's Hendrickson.
04:24
And let me tell you something.
04:26
They have played games, the Brown family, with Tee Higgins since he's been a Bengal.
04:33
And I've heard that they've rebuffed a bunch of trade offers for him.
04:39
Well, then, for Christ's sakes, give him the money already.
04:42
To leave your defense that naked, I said earlier on the show, no pants.
04:45
They have no pants.
04:46
No one's wearing pants on the defense.
04:49
And Joe Burrow, watch them last year give up 40 points a game.
04:54
And he put up just staggering numbers.
04:57
He beat my Steelers in the freezing cold in the last week, in week 18 or whatever it was.
05:01
He can beat anybody.
05:03
But not when your team plays every week and gives up 40 points.
05:05
They're not going to spend any money on defense.
05:07
Zach Taylor's getting fired.
05:10
And they're going to stink.
05:11
All right.
05:12
A couple of things here.
05:13
Myles Garrett turns 30 late this season.
05:16
Max Crosby, here's what happened with Max Crosby.
05:19
He had a high ankle sprain last year.
05:20
He played on it.
05:21
Instead of taking weeks off, he played on it.
05:24
And yes, that's why his numbers were down.
05:26
But yeah, they didn't need to take care of him.
05:28
They did.
05:30
It's an unbelievable deal that Max Crosby got.
05:33
His extension that he got this week, according to his agency, $34.5 million per season.
05:38
It's crazy.
05:39
So yeah, he got the bag, the big bag.
05:41
But the Bengals now, with Al Golden being their new defense coordinator, Lou Annarumo
05:45
is out.
05:46
He switched teams.
05:47
Now he's one to the Colts.
05:48
They're a team that is hard to figure out.
05:51
And you make a good point, because by the way, the Eagles not only paid A.J. Brown top
05:56
of the market or close to it, they also paid Devontae Smith.
05:59
This could get done.
06:00
And they didn't make Devontae Smith have to wait for it.
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