The Browns will face a much stronger Cincinnati Bengals team, especially defensively, in the regular-season opener on Sept. 7 at Huntington Bank Field.
In fact, you can say that for every Bengals opponent this season.
That’s because on Monday the Bengals reached agreement on a new one-year deal with star defensive end Trey Hendrickson that will give him a whopping $14 million raise for 2025. He will be an unrestricted free agent after the year.
It appeared for some time that the two sides wouldn’t be able to come to an accord. The Bengals aren’t exactly spendthrifts, and Hendrickson had dug in his heels.
The move means that the Bengals, like the AFC North rival Pittsburgh Steelers, are going all in on this season to try to not just make the playoffs, but also to put together a deep run through them.
The Bengals are horrible overall defensively. They can’t stop anyone. But with Hendrickson and defensive end Shadeur Stewart, their first-round pick in the NFL Draft, they can at least collapse the pocket from the edges and put heat on the quarterback.
The Browns’ tackles, Dewand Jones and Jack Conklin, had better be prepared.
Steve King
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