Cincinnati Bengals’ Immediate Outlook After Losing Trey Hendrickson to Ravens

The first two days of the NFL’s legal tampering period in free agency have passed, and the Cincinnati Bengals had to be thrilled after the two big signings. In just the first four hours of the period, general manager Duke Tobin reached agreements with former Seattle Seahawks defensive end Boye Mafe and former Kansas City Chiefs safety Bryan Cook, both on three-year deals. 

These two young stars will fill significant holes in one of the worst defenses in the NFL, based on last season. Geno Stone was especially poor compared to the rest of the safeties in the NFL, and bringing in one of the league's best-tackling safeties will help immediately turn around the team's mentality. 

As for Bafe, the Bengals lost defensive end Joseph Ossai to the New York Jets, and they knew that 2024 NFL Sack Leader Trey Hendrickson was on his way out as well, as he sought a bigger contract. Bafe ranked as the eighth-highest defensive linemen in pass rush win rate in the NFL last season, and his continued progression year to year will allow him to potentially make a jump that Hendrickson did after coming to Cincinnati from the New Orleans Saints. 

Breaking news arrived Wednesday morning from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport about where Hendrickson finally made his decision to sign. 

On just the third day of the legal tampering period, superstar edge rusher Hendrickson is signing a 4-year, $112 million deal with the Baltimore Ravens. After a rescinded trade for Maxx Crosby, the Ravens were able to acquire the best pass rusher available this offseason without forfeiting any draft compensation.

This has to be the end of a wild roller coaster of emotions for the Bengals, and specifically, superstar quarterback Joe Burrow. The AFC North already possesses two of the best pass rushers in the game in Myles Garrett, who just broke the single-season sack record, and TJ Watt, who is a three-time NFL Sack Leader. Adding an edge rusher like Crosby, who averages just under 10 sacks per year in seven seasons, proves to be an absolute nightmare for six games a year for an injury-prone quarterback.

Once the trade was rescinded, one could imagine the sigh of relief for Burrow and the Bengals’ offensive line. While most expected Crosby to fail his physical when arriving in Baltimore, it wasn’t highly anticipated that the Ravens would lose at least seven key players to free agency; this seems to be the most impactful factor to the Ravens calling back the trade. Now, with the news of Hendrickson remaining in the Bengals’ division, Burrow will have to deal with five of the previous six NFL Sack Leaders for six games a year. 

At the end of the day, Tobin and the Bengals need to stay on course to get back to postseason contention. While Hendrickson remaining in the division has to feel like a punch to the gut, they cannot be too worried about what moves other teams are making. Doing this would easily allow for them to get caught up in making moves to counter others instead of just building the best, most cohesive team to get back to the Super Bowl. 

Specifically, the already set offensive line needs to have an impeccable offseason together. Tobin and head coach Zac Taylor made a great move by re-signing Dalton Risner and keeping the starting five together, but now they need to continue building on the momentum they built at the end of 2025. They surely didn’t finish as one of the worst offensive lines in the league last year, but they may need to be one of the best now, playing in one of the most dangerous divisions for edge rushing in recent memory.