Bengals fans blast GM for comments on Trey Hendrickson's pending contract extension - "Fire Duke Tobin. Right now"

Trey Hendrickson will be a hot topic among Cincinnati Bengals fans during the upcoming offseason. The edge rusher led the NFL in sacks during the 2024 season (17.5), but he will enter the final year of his deal, and a contract extension is needed.

However, general manager Duke Tobin's comments seemed to diminish fans' hopes of an extension. While he admitted that Hendrickson deserves a pay raise due to his recent performances, he did not seem sure that the two sides would find common ground on a new deal.

“We can't have guys at the top of the payroll in every position. We'll do what we can. We'll do what we feel is right, and we will try to get Trey re-signed. Has he earned a pay raise and a bump in an extension? He has. We’re cognizant of that, and we will give that to him. But whether we agree on what that looks like is, is what's to be determined," Tobin said.

Concerned about the possibility of losing one of their key members, Bengals fans were furious with Tobin's comments.

"Fire Duke Tobin. Right now," a fan wrote.

"Why would he even come out and say this it’s already setting a bad tone," another fan opined.

Here are a few more reactions from fans:

"If Bates and Reader didn’t teach us that you have to keep your best players, I don’t know what will," one fan commented.

"Yay, more talent gone," another fan said.

"Duke needs to be fired, what a loser mentality? Paying 4 top level players is too much?" a fan wrote.

"Duke Tobin is an idiot for even saying this, even if it’s what he believes (or what the family believes)," another opined.

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Bengals fans concerned about the possibility of losing Tee Higgins in free agency

Even though reactions to Tobin's statement were negative, Trey Hendrickson still has a year left on his deal and will be part of the team in 2025. The same can't be said about Tee Higgins, the star wide receiver who will be a free agent in March.

Plenty of key members of the team such as Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase have advocated for the Bengals to keep Higgins on the roster. He played under the franchise tag in 2024 and it would cost a lot more for Cincinnati to use the same maneuver on him.

It's unclear what the Bengals will do. Having two good wide receivers is good, but Higgins is also one of the best free agents available in the 2025 class. He knows that he can earn a lot of money on the market; at the same time, he also made it clear that he wants to stay. The ongoing saga might last a few more weeks.