Cincy Jungle
The Cincinnati Bengals front office isn’t hard to figure out. They historically have had problems giving lots of money (especially guaranteed) to players who reach that dreaded 30-year-old threshold.
Traditionally, it is where you start to see a decline in a player’s talent. However, it isn’t always the case, and it is a lesson the Bengals have failed to learn the hard way at least once.
The most recent example is when they let left tackle Andrew Whitworth walk following the 2016 season. It left a hole that was only fairly recently filled by Orlando Brown Jr., and even worse, Whitworth was a member of the Los Angeles Rams team that defeated them in the Super Bowl. He was 40 years old.
Certainly, Whitworth is not an example of what every player in the NFL is capable of. But he and Trey Hendrickson share the same work ethic and high production, which is worth betting on continuing to be productive for your team.
Cincinnati’s motto of getting out too early on a player rather than clinging on too long usually ends up working out in the long run. The timing just doesn’t work right now.
This team is trying to win now. We are weeks away from the start of the season, and Hendrickson is capable of really helping this defense right now. Whatever player you get is going to need time to acclimate to the system and defense, whereas Hendrickson, you can just plug in now and go try and win a championship.
It is clear this team has learned nothing from its mishandling of the Whitworth situation, which is incredibly frustrating.
