The Cincinnati Bengals tied down their top two offseason priorities with the Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins long-term extensions. However, the Trey Hendrickson situation remains flapping in the wind.
The Bengals have insisted they want to retain the NFL's reigning sack leader but allowed Hendrickson to seek a trade. Heretofore, neither a trade nor an extension has come to fruition as the NFL draft approaches.
Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn said Tuesday from the NFL's Annual League Meeting that it's a case the club continues to work through.
"As you're trying (to put) all these pieces together, you have certain limitations eventually," Blackburn said, via Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer. "So he seemed to feel strongly about it, and thought the strength of interest out there was going to be at a certain level. And so, we said that it would be OK to at least explore, and so we don't do that all the time, but in this case, we felt like it was the right thing to do, case-by-case basis every time. And he's still a Bengal, so we'll see. It's just something that we'll keep working through."
Cincinnati isn't a club that generally makes a habit of trading away its productive players. In previous instances, it's forced those starters to play out their deals before letting them walk in free agency -- i.e., Jessie Bates. Of course, the Bengals got out of historical character with the Higgins/Chase big-money signings this offseason, so perhaps they're open to change.
Blackburn noted that the club has made what it feels like is a competitive offer, but it's on Hendrickson to agree.
"I think he should be happy at certain rates that maybe he doesn't think he'd be happy at," Blackburn said. "I think some of it is on him to be happy at some point, and if he's not, you know, that's what holds it up sometimes. So, you know, it takes him to say yes to something, and also, we have all the respect in the world for him. He's been a great player. We're happy to have him. And so maybe we'll find a way to get something to work. We're just gonna see where it goes."
Earning a Pro Bowl nod in each of his four seasons in Cincy, Hendrickson has sought long-term big money for several years to no avail. The question is whether he will withhold services if he can't find common ground with the Bengals and no trade materializes.
"I'd be lying if I said I knew exactly what's going to happen," Blackburn said. "So, we'll just have to see how it all plays out."
