10 NFL free agency signings for 2021 that could backfire

7. Trey Hendrickson, EDGE, Cincinnati Bengals

There’s really no intention to pick on the Cincinnati Bengals but they did make a couple of interesting moves this offseason that come with a bit of a risk. One of those was the signing of Trey Hendrickson, the former New Orleans Saints defensive end.

A product of Florida Atlantic, Hendrickson was taken in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft and was considered a developmental player. He proved to be just that as he entered 2020 with just 40 career tackles and 6.5 sacks. Then during his contract season, he went off.

Hendrickson finished with 25 tackles and 13.5 sacks which was enough to justify Cincinnati signing him to a four-year contract worth $60 million. Should Hendrickson be able to build upon the success he had in 2020, he could prove to be worth the contract but he does run the risk of being a one-year wonder. It’s also arguable that he’s a step down from the player they opted not to sign, Carl Lawson.

Lawson never had a breakout in the way Hendrickson did, but he was more consistent in his career and had 10.5 sacks over the past two seasons. He ended up signing a three-year, $45 million deal with the Jets which could prove to be the better deal between the two players.

Maybe if Hendrickson had more success before 2020 this one would sit better, but the Bengals went out on a limb here and it could backfire.