NFL agent rips Bengals GM over Trey Hendrickson contract, urges to take a page from Eagles' playbook - "No excuse"

Bengals general manager Duke Tobin caused consternation among Bengals fans regarding Trey Hendrickson's future, prompting one NFL agent to cite the Eagles as a franchise that Cincinnati should copy in trying to keep the defensive end.

Trey Hendrickson finished with 17.5 sacks this season, the highest in the NFL, and was a rare bright spot for an otherwise disappointing Bengals' defense. This was his fourth straight Pro Bowl nomination and he was named First Team All-Pro for the first time. Even Duke Tobin agrees that this deserves a new contract but he mentioned the reality of the NFL salary cap to state that not every top player can be retained by a franchise. He told Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer,

“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.”

That caused NFL agent Jesse James to weigh in and he cited that the Eagles, who will play in the Super Bowl next month, are able to do just that. He began a post on X/Twitter by contrasting the highest-earners in the two franchises, writing,

"Just for a reference; the Eagles are paying 6 players over $20M AAV on multiple year deals. The Bengals currently have 2 under contract for 2025 over $20M AAV and 5 that make $10M AAV (not taking into consideration Chase’s eventual extension yet)."

James noted that even with a new contract for Trey Hendrickson, they will still have fewer big contract players than Philadelphia. He continued,

"Burrow and Hendrickson over $20M AAV (Chase will make $21.8M next year, and we assume his AAV will finally go well above the $20M AAV)... Add Brown Jr., Rankins, and Hubbard over $10M... I’m not buying this argument of, “can’t have guys at the top of the payroll at every position …”

The NFL agent concluded by saying the Bengals should pay what Trey Hendrickson deserves and not make any excuses. He added that if Cincinnati does not pay the defender, others will, noting,

"We are talking about 4 players at or near the top of the market at their positions... Pay your stars. No excuse. If they are at the top of their respective position, pay them like they are. Other teams will."

Bengals GM Duke Tobin expresses unhappiness with Cincinnati defense before Trey Hendrickson comments

One could read between the lines and understand why Duke Tobin might be hesitant in bringing all the star players back, especially on defense. In the interview with the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Bengals general manager said,

"We're going to have to retool defensively. My thoughts were we lined up with the majority of the guys on our defense that played with us in the Super Bowl. Three of our starting defensive linemen were Super Bowl starters for us. Both starting linebackers, one of the safeties, Cam Taylor-Britt, you know, and we had upgrades at other spots, and Mike Hilton, right?"

His answer made it clear that bringing back the players who were good for them in previous seasons on defense did not work out on the pitch or the balance sheets. Tobin continued,

"So, the majority of our defense is guys that have gotten us there before. That's what we banked on. We ended up with, I think, the third highest payroll in the league, because we kept those guys together. And I think the expectation was keeping those guys together would net, and it didn't."

With Tee Higgins' contract also of importance, the Bengals general manager admitted that they have to retool the defense. Whether Trey Hendrickson survives those plans remains to be seen because there will be others around the league willing to pay the defensive end big money, as NFL agent Jesse James said.