The Cincinnati Bengals are going to have terrible luck on two fronts for the next few seasons. First, after the huge contract extensions for wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and quarterback Joe Burrow take effect, the salary cap will become a problem. Second, even though a youthful squad can try to hide it, everyone eventually ages, and this group from a few seasons ago is getting close to reaching their later years of employment. Cincinnati will increasingly need to find solutions to both of those issues.
Superstar defensive end Trey Hendrickson is one key position on the team where each of those issues will arise. Even though he still has two years left on his contract, the gifted edge rusher made headlines a few weeks ago when he requested a trade. Someone who would sound the alarm during peacetime simply cannot be trusted to maintain composure when his contract season rolls around in 2025, even after he softened his stance on the matter.
The fact is that Hendrickson will turn 30 this season, even accounting for how absurd his recent antics were. Aging defensive linemen usually see massive decreases in form between the ages of 31 and 32. Other talented defensive lineman from throughout the league, like former Ram Aaron Donald or Buffalo Bills star Von Miller, are good examples of this. Thus, even in the unlikely event that Hendrickson decides to remain in Cincinnati, the team will have to find other options by 2025 or this next season.
Hendrickson has managed to significantly outperform over the last few seasons, but this squad needs more raw skill on the defensive end of the ball. When the team selected Myles Murphy, a gifted defensive end from Clemson, in the 2023 NFL Draft to bolster the pass rush, they took a significant step in making amends.
There is a lot of talk among Bengals supporters in the early days of training camp about how Murphy has changed drastically from the previous season. The Clemson product exhibits impressive athleticism along with the appearance of having gained a significant amount of muscle. He displayed his tremendous pop against a blocking dummy in the tweet below.
With just 3 sacks and 10 total tackles at the end of the previous season, Murphy was primarily a depth piece. The squad didn’t really need the young player to contribute much because Sam Hubbard and Hendrickson shared the majority of the snaps on the outside of the defensive line. That won’t be sufficient by 2024, when Murphy’s expectations will soar.
Murphy stated that “there’s a difference between combine condition and football condition,” as reported by Bengals radio analyst Dan Hoard. “Last year, I was in excellent combine shape, but not in fantastic football shape. I’m in excellent football shape right now.
In the offseason prior to the NFL Draft, collegiate athletes should concentrate on basic physical assessments like the 40-yard dash and the bench press, even though the majority of people might not recognize the distinction. In order to optimize his speed profile, Murphy probably lost a significant amount of playing weight, but as he stated, he currently looks like a world-class athlete and will be a devastating force on this defense as he enters his second season in Southwest Ohio.
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