There always seems to be a “but” when it comes to the Bengals.

Before the 2024 season, Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson, fresh off a 17.5 sack season, requested a trade because he felt he wasn’t being paid for what he was producing.

Of course, he wasn’t traded, and he played in the 2024 season while leading the NFL in sacks with another 17.5.

Now, he’s entering a contract year, and after two great seasons, he’s going to want to be paid. Bengals Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin spoke with The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Kelsey Conway and told her that keeping Hendrickson in Cincinnati is a priority, but he set the stage for some tough negotiations ahead.

“Has he earned a pay raise and a bump in an extension … he has,” Tobin said, according to Conway. “We’re cognizant of that, and we will give that to him. But whether we agree on what that looks like is, is what is to be determined.”

Hendrickson was brought to Cincinnati from the Saints before the 2021 Super Bowl season after the team lost Carl Lawson to the Jets in free agency. Since then, he has racked up 57 sacks and been named to the Pro Bowl each of the last four seasons.

The Bengals have to extend Ja’Marr Chase. They have also made it clear they’d like to keep Tee Higgins in Cincinnati as well. They have allowed defensive stars like Jessie Bates and DJ Reader to leave Cincinnati to get paid more elsewhere, and their defense paid for it in 2024. Letting Hendrickson walk would be another huge mistake. Not re-signing him now could lead to another trade demand and a potential holdout. That can’t be allowed to happen.

Without someone to replace him, allowing their only effective pass rusher to eventually walk away would further hamstring a defense that was so bad they had to fire Lou Anarumo after Joe Burrow put up MVP number while Chase won the Triple Crown, and the team still missed the NFL Playoffs.

Handing the defense to the new defensive coordinator, Al Golden, without their best player would be a crime. Based on Tobin’s statement, it appears as if he’s trying to get Bengals fans used to the idea that they may not extend him before it actually happens. It would have been a much better statement if he stopped talking after the words ‘We will give that to him.’

Adding the second sentence seems to say ‘We might not extend him, so Trey and fans should get used to the idea.’

Hopefully, they figure something out. They can’t exactly find an edge rusher of Hendrickson’s caliber with the No. 17 overall pick, especially when the team’s scouting department is as small as theirs. Keeping Hendrickson in Cincinnati for the long term is just as pivotal to the team’s future success as Higgins’ is.

If the 2024 season taught one lesson to the Bengals, it’s that you can’t let your defense whither and die, no matter how good the offense is.