The Cincinnati Bengals are two years removed from deep playoff runs that resulted in a Super Bowl appearance and another conference championship appearance. This was done on the cheap contracts of Tee Higgins, Ja’Marr Chase, Joe Burrow, and free agent signing Trey Hendrickson among many others.
The Bengals have also been a franchise that has been known to be cheap or difficult to deal with when it comes to contracts. Those cheap contracts are maturing into market rate deals with Joe Burrow having already signed. They have plenty of other decisions to make including Trey Hendrickson who has voiced his displeasure about a new contract including threatening to retire at one point.
Hendrickson has also stated that he would hope he could be traded if it meant that the assets obtained from the trade could be used to bring a championship to Cincinnati. The Bengals would be smart to move an older player for resources to build cheaply elsewhere.
Today’s article breaks down the injury history of Trey Hendrickson and any potential concerns should the Buffalo Bills be successful in trading for the pass rusher.
Injury History
2017 New Orleans Saints
Ankle injury, Week 14, missed 3 games.
2018 Saints
No publicly reported injuries.
2019 Saints
Neck injury, Week 4, missed 3 games.
Hendrickson got tied up with Cowboys tackle Tyron Smith during the first half and was forced to leave the game. He was ruled out of the next three games before returning to play in Week 8.
2020 Saints
Groin injury, Week 2, missed 0 games.
Neck injury, Week 15, missed 1 game.
Neck injury, Week 17, missed 1 game.
Hendrickson tweaked his groin back in Week 2 against the Las Vegas Raiders that left him questionable for Week 3 before ultimately playing. He then suffered another neck injury against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 15, missing the following game before returning to play in Week 17. It isn’t clear if he aggravated the injury then but he was forced to miss the Wild Card game against the Chicago Bears.
2021 Cincinnati Bengals
Groin injury, preseason.
Back injury, Week 14, missed 0 games.
COVID, Week 18, missed 1 game.
Concussion, Wild Card, missed 0 games.
Hendrickson played through a groin strain in the preseason that did not linger. He was later placed on the COVID Reserve list the Tuesday ahead of Week 18 and missed the final game of the season before being activated the game, spending six days on the list. He finally suffers a concussion against the Las Vegas Raiders in the playoffs, clearing protocol in time to play the following week.
2022 Bengals
Neck injury, Week 7, missed 0 games.
Right wrist fracture, Week 14, missed 1 game.
Hutchinson was forced to leave the Week 7 contest against the Atlanta Falcons with a neck injury after running head first into a teammate while trying to tackle Marcus Mariota. Later in the season, he suffered a right wrist fracture which forced him to miss the following game but he placed a club on the wrist and continued playing through the rest of the season.
2023 Bengals
Back injury, Week 4, missed 0 games.
Left ankle injury, Week 8, missed 0 games.
Hyperextended knee injury, Week 10, missed 0 games.
Hendrickson battled back and left ankle injuries earlier in the season before Texans Nico Collins fell into his knee, causing a hyperextension. Despite all these issues, he did not miss any games.
2024 Bengals
Undisclosed injury, preseason.
Neck injury/stinger, Week 4, missed 0 games.
Neck injury, Week 10, missed 0 games.
Hendrickson dealt with injuries once again with an undisclosed one leaving him initially week-to-week followed by two neck injuries. The Week 4 injury saw him leave the stadium with his right arm in a sling for support.
Injury Analysis
This was a player that the more I dug, the more I found. It’s incredible that he has been able to be one of the best pass rushers in the league despite all the various injuries and times he’s had to leave the games. His career 17-game averages are below:
QB Hurry: 12
QB Knockdown: 13
Sack: 12.5
Pressures: 39
Looking at the injury concerns, the ones that aren’t all that concerning are the concussion, ankle, groin, and wrist fracture. Those appear to happen quite infrequently and given his positional demands do expose him to tweaking his groin, bending the edge or rolling his ankle. Getting rolled up on is also a high likelihood which potentially was the case during his rookie year. These types of injuries are more or less the cost of playing in the NFL.
The big concerns are the neck and back injuries counting six different neck issues and two back issues dating back to 2017. Now, some of those neck instances were a continuation of a neck injury he was working through during that particular season. He has dealt with a neck injury four out of his eight seasons in the league. Prior to the NFL, he did not have any known injury issues according to Dane Brugler’s The Beast.
Looking at his history, it is eerily similar to what former Bills S Micah Hyde dealt with during his career. He ended up having a cervical disc herniation that ended his 2022 season but also had cervical stenosis which contributed to his multiple stingers his last season and career. There have not been any reports that Hendrickson is dealing with any chronic neck issues, but when I see a player dealing with the same body part issue again and again with some reports indicating he deals with stingers and other ones stating he needs to leave games early says something is underlying.
Cervical Stenosis
Cervical stenosis is where there is a narrowing of the opening either where the spinal cord passes through the vertebrae or where the nerve roots pass through the foramen that exit off the spinal cord. This can either be present at birth or occur due to trauma such as football and osteoarthritis. As we saw with Micah Hyde, he could still play and be an incredibly effective player but that came with the risks of continued deterioration in the area with missed time and possible procedures. This didn’t stop him from playing but it led to struggles his last year and eventual retirement.
An old study from 1990 indicated that roughly one-third of NFL players deal with some level of cervical stenosis. While this diagnosis alone doesn’t preclude players from playing, this could cause chronic stingers or osteoarthritis which is potentially the case here for Hendrickson. A diagnosis like this usually leads to decreased games played but generally has no impact on performance. What this comes down to is that almost a third of players have some level of stenosis. They may be less available for games which Hendrickson has shown but the performance does not drop off.
While the research is generally positive, this is only a problem when it becomes a problem. If Hendrickson was found to have cervical stenosis but had no symptoms or issues, great. A third of players fall into this bucket. That does happen.
But it appears that he is having some lingering issues affecting his availability. Players with pre-existing diagnosis have been shown to play less years compared to matched controls but the diagnosis plus surgery did not affect career length indicating that surgery addressed the issue. However, the career length in the research was just five years in multiple studies, a number that Hendrickson has nearly doubled in his career by now.
Plenty of players have retired due to worsening cervical stenosis or other complications such as cervical disc herniations leading to further procedures. He is not necessarily at risk for paralysis, but eventually the quality of life begins to suffer as injuries pile on over the years. He has hinted at retirement to force contract talks, but he may also be feeling the effects of the injuries after all these years.
Hendrickson is 30 years old and is angling for another big contract. His current production warrants that contract but will he begin to have worsening neck problems or begin to suffer a decline in production due to his age? He has one year left on his contract which means he will probably want a new contract if he were to be traded as well. These are the questions that need to be asked before initiating a trade.
Final Thoughts
If the Bills were to trade for Trey Hendrickson, the medical staff better be taking every image possible and examining it closely. They better poke and prod him every which way before they feel comfortable trading away assets for him or acquiring him in general.
The Bengals may know how things look and this is why they may be reluctant to give him another long-term extension as he signed a one-year extension last year.
The Bills would be smart to do their homework, offer a reasonable trade package but not pursue aggressively. Based on what I see right now, I wouldn’t go for it considering his age, the chance of dealing with a likely progressive chronic neck issue, and potential decline in production. I thought going into this analysis that this would be more straightforward but there are too many concerns without having additional information.
If the Bills did want to take a risk, acquiring him for next year at his cap hit of $18.6 million, I’d be open to that idea to try and win the Super Bowl in 2025. Even a two year contract could be acceptable but I’m not certain he’s worth the assets you’re giving up for that short of a timeframe. Anything past that is a big concern unless the medicals were truly clean. I don’t believe they are.
Hendrickson can play, but what if he has another hit that forces him out several key games or he needs to undergo surgery? You could make the case that this could happen to any player at any time, but if there are known risk factors with a previous history, do you allocate lots of resources to something that has a higher chance of not panning out?
They still need something to help strengthen the defensive line but Trey Hendrickson doesn’t appear to be worth the risk of trading away multiple assets to acquire him without more information.
Top Photo Credit: Matt Durisko/AP
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