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The Cincinnati Bengals had to improvise quickly after losing Carl Lawson to the New York Jets and ended up agreeing to terms with New Orleans Saints pass-rusher Trey Hendrickson.
Unfortunately for the Bengals, there’s nothing to say this move is a wash that up and replaces Lawson well.
Lawson, after all, had 5.5 sacks last year and was one of the best in the NFL at creating sacks for his teammates, ranking alongside names like Khalil Mack. There’s a reason the Jets gave Lawson $45 million with $30 of it guaranteed.
The news isn’t all bad. Hendrickson is only 26 years old and erupted for 14 sacks last year, grading at a 72.1 at PFF. The sack tally is nice, but Hendrickson did it on 53 percent of the defense’s snaps — that’s the first time in his four-year career he’s played more than 38 percent of the snaps.
And that’s a little concerning. The Bengals aren’t paying Hendrickson big dollars to play a rotational role and he had some problems against the run. While there’s a chance he could be hitting the apex of his development and keep producing big numbers, there’s also a chance things go the other direction.
A lot of this will come down to contract structure. The Bengals will pay Hendrickson less than Lawson will get in New York and it sounds like the cap hit checks in around $12.5 million this year. If he flops and there is a way to get out of it early, great.
Still, the Bengals are betting a lot on Hendrickson just coming in and producing on a team that doesn’t have another reliable pass-rusher under a coordinator that hasn’t proven he can put together a strong unit yet.
As such, some of the numbers sound great. But a lot has to go right. Hendrickson was a part-time player working on a loaded front featuring elite players like Cam Jordan. That means D.J. Reader needs to be a big presence for the team and the front office can’t stop adding pass-rushers now.
For now, the grade is something essentially incomplete with a sour taste of letting Lawson slip away.
Grade: C
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