Cincy Jungle
The Cincinnati Bengals are preparing to play their first preseason game of the 2025 season, and Zac Taylor has already let slip that starters will be playing more than they ever have in his tenure as head coach. One starter that won’t be out there, though, is the league’s defending sack leader, Trey Hendrickson. He is still holding in as he and his representatives negotiate a contract extension.
The Bengals finished the 2024 season with the eighth-fewest team sacks, and the guy who had about half of them, and led the league, is refusing to practice until he’s paid what he feels he is owed. Most are in his corner, and that corner now includes Hall of Fame left tackle Anthony Muñoz, who joined Solomon Wilcots on his podcast “Bleav in Bengals.”
“I think you have to sign him,” he said on Wednesday. “You have a proven chaotic, chaos, disturber in the backfield with all those sacks. We don’t have one of those guys right now. At least none of the guys have proven to do that, so we need to sign Trey, get him in there, and get him ready to go up by the lake for the first game (at Cleveland).
“And I was going to say, get after the quarterback. I don’t know who they’re going to have as a quarterback. They got five or six up in Cleveland, but I think you need to sign. I think you need to sign Trey.”
Hendrickson started his holdout in Jacksonville, but he came back to Cincinnati to “hold in,” meaning he would be around, but he wouldn’t practice. He has been spotted working with some of the young guys, including first-round pick Shemar Stewart, in the background, but he hasn’t put on the pads or taken any snaps. Still, being present is valuable, and Muñoz thinks the Bengals need to remember Hendrickson is more than the number of sacks he finishes the season with.
“A lot of people just think maybe on the field, but it’s off the field in the locker room where a guy like Trey can be very helpful to not only a young guy like Stewart, but the whole defense,” he said. “And so you’re gaining more than just a, a great pass rusher. You’re gaining someone who can have an impact in the locker room.”
The Bengals finished the 2024 season with a 9-8 record, narrowly missing the playoffs despite boasting one of the most explosive offenses in the league. If the Bengals’ defense can just be marginally better, and the offense doesn’t regress, this Bengals team could go deep in the playoffs. They’ll need Hendrickson to do it, though.
Check out the clip below.
