The Cincinnati Bengals have some major financial decisions ahead of them. While appearing on ESPN's First Take, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow once again insisted his team pay one of its star players, this time going to bat for edge rusher Trey Hendrickson.
#Bengals QB Joe Burrow keeps putting public pressure on the team: “We need Trey Hendrickson back. We need to give him what he's worth and what he deserves. ... The cap is going up. We just got new TV deals. We all want to stay together."
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) February 6, 2025
(@via @FirstTake) pic.twitter.com/C7nfTHAabA
Hendrickson is coming off a fourth consecutive Pro Bowl and just wrapped up a career season in which he led the NFL with 17.5 sacks. He has one year remaining on his current deal and turned 30 in December. He's likely looking for an extension that would make him one of the league's highest-paid defenders.
Hendrickson isn't the only looming roster issue Burrow has weighed in on. The two-time Pro Bowler previously applied pressure on the Bengals to re-sign wide receiver Tee Higgins, who is set to hit unrestricted free agency after playing on the franchise tag in 2024. Wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase is also about to enter the final year of his rookie contract after leading the league in catches (127), receiving yards (1708), and receiving touchdowns (17) last season.
The Bengals are in a sticky situation. Fundamentally, their roster as presently constituted isn't good enough: They've missed the playoffs for two consecutive seasons. Their defense has also struggled, finishing 25th and 31st in yards allowed over the past two years. Giving an aging player like Hendrickson a significant pay raise will make it difficult to delegate cap space to the team's many, many weak spots.
The Bengals are facing a similar issue with Higgins and Chase. Both players have developed a rapport with Burrow while playing on bargain-rate rookie contracts. Chase should expect to become the league's highest-paid wide receiver on his next deal, eclipsing Minnesota Vikings pass catcher Justin Jefferson's $35 million per year deal. Meanwhile, Higgins could command as much as $30 million per year in free agency this offseason
Burrow has previously expressed a willingness to restructure his contract in order to facilitate moves for the Bengals, but they're still subject to the realities of the salary cap. He's one of the league's highest-paid quarterbacks in the league at $55 million per year. Unless Burrow's willing to genuinely give money back rather than simply move it around, keeping all of Chase, Higgins, and Hendrickson will be a tall order for a notoriously small-market, cash-strapped team like the Bengals.
Burrow is right to stick up for his guys, but he also needs to recognize that football is not only a business but a game of resource management. The Bengals are not championship-ready, and even the offense isn't without blame: They haven't finished in the top five for points scored in any of Burrow's five seasons. For the Bengals to get better, they need to find better returns on their investments, which often means replacing expensive veterans with cheaper, younger talent. If they spend all their cap space paying out lucrative contracts to players already on their roster, the Bengals will risk staying the mediocre team they've been the past two years.
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