"He’s a generational talent" - JD Vance makes bold pitch to keep Trey Hendrickson with Bengals amid team's cap struggles

The Cincinnati Bengals and Trey Hendrickson still haven't reached a deal. The edge remains at a crossroads with the team, and their discussions for a new long-term extension recently reached a point where the defender voiced his frustrations publicly.

Bengals fans certainly want to see Hendrickson stay with the franchise. Not only he's their best defensive player, who led the NFL in sacks in 2024 (17.5), but they have no other feasible option to rush the passer in 2025. Myles Murphy has not evolved as expected, while Shemar Stewart will be a rookie when the season starts.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance is a Cincinnati Bengals fan and a former Senator for Ohio. During a recent appearance on Theo Von show, he was asked about the defender's contract situation, and voiced his wish for the Bengals to sign him to a new deal:

That's a million-dollar question—or I guess the $50 million question. Are y’all going to subsidize that? Hendrickson is worth it, dude. He’s a generational talent. It’s very hard to get a guy like that. I’m a big football fan, but edge rushers have become... It’s almost like where left tackles were 10 or 15 years ago, where everybody just realized there’s this really underpaid position that you gotta have. I think we’re going to have to pay Hendrickson. I hope so.

Trey Hendrickson says relationship with Bengals "could be repaired" after new deal

Although there's public frustration coming from the defender, he has not wavered on his desire to remain in Cincinnati. Speaking with reporters during the OTAs, he recently said that all those problems could be forgotten:

“I think every relationship is repairable, right?” he said. “Like, I think Myles Garrett proved that he’s a great man, and he’s done great things for his family, and obviously providing on and off the football field. He’s tremendous. But I think that relationship will repair with time. And same with this. This is just the uncomfortable business side that we’ve unfortunately had to deal with for the last couple years, and, quite frankly, I think we’re all spent.”

Cincinnati gave massive contract extensions for Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Mike Gesicki this offseason. However, Hendrickson's situation remains unresolved, and the star defender has made it clear that he won't play under the current deal, which has one year left and a base salary of $15.8 million.