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          Source: Cincinnati Bengals reach deal with Trey Hendrickson

          • Ben Baby, ESPN Staff WriterMar 16, 2021, 02:44 AM
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              Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News where he covered college sports. He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com, while making appearances on SportsCenter, ESPN's NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs. A native of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor's degree in journalism. He is an adjunct journalism professor at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).
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          The Cincinnati Bengals have agreed to a four-year, $60 million deal with defensive end Trey Hendrickson, a source told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler on Monday.

          The deal with the former New Orleans Saints standout includes $32 million over the first two years, the source said.

          Hendrickson joins a Bengals team that ranked last in the NFL in sacks in 2020 with 17. Earlier Monday, former Cincy defensive end Carl Lawson agreed to terms with the New York Jets. Lawson was the Bengals' top edge rusher last season and created 10.5 of the team's sacks, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

          Hendrickson, 26, tied for second in the NFL with 13.5 sacks during an unexpected breakout season with the New Orleans Saints in 2020. He also ranked sixth in the league with 53 pressures and 37 hurries, according to NFL NextGen Stats, despite playing in just 15 games and less than 60% of the defensive snaps.

          The 6-foot-4, 270-pounder was a third-round pick out of Florida Atlantic in 2017, but he appeared in just 17 games over his first two seasons with the Saints and didn't make his first career start until late in the 2019 season. He had a total of 6.5 sacks in those first three seasons, plus one more in the playoffs.

          Hendrickson stepped up in a big way in 2020, with projected starter Marcus Davenport missing the first four games due to injuries, and never really slowed down the rest of the season. Hendrickson had three sacks of Tom Brady in two regular-season victories over Tampa Bay, and he registered two sacks and a forced fumble in a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

          Hendrickson missed Week 16 and a playoff game with a neck injury. He finished the season with 25 tackles and also was an effective run defender for one of the NFL's top run defenses.

          Saints coach Sean Payton credited Hendrickson with getting to the "perfect weight and strength" in 2020 after he was a bit light earlier in his career.

          Hendrickson credited veteran teammates such as Cameron Jordan and Alex Okafor for helping him develop throughout his career.

          Information from ESPN's Mike Triplett was used in this report.