And while some refer to Hendrickson’s elite colleagues on the Saints (four-time Pro Bowler Cam Jordan, first player Marcus Davenport, David Onyemata’s 6.5 bags during the pack), as well as the Saints always have the lead and may wonder Hendrickson can do it in Cincinnati, the Bengals see 13.5 bags as 13.5 bags.
Only one player scored the number in Cincinnati (Carlos Dunlap), and while Lawson inflicted 5.5 tackles and 32 quarterback hits on 728 snaps last season, Hendrickson had 13.5 tackles and 25 shots on 558 plays . With 18 sacks in his last 28 games, they believe they have one of the league’s best young passengers just as he started to rise.
The youth also appear to be a factor in signing the 6-0, 202-pound Awuzie. He is a consistent player whose first three years in the league were good before missing half of the games last year with a thigh muscle problem and COVID-19. He built a representative for reliability and to be where he needed to be. Awuzie, who is 26 on opening day, is taller in ESPN’s board than Jackson, a man who turns 29 in the middle of this season.
Hilton, 27, completed a long climb on Tuesday. It started in 2016 as an unsolicited rookie from Mississippi, who was pardoned by the Jaguars late in his rookie season before ending up in the Steelers training group the following year.
By the time that season was over, he had led all the NFL corners in Pro Football Focus cards with 15 pushes as a bait. He played in a second round last year before apparently agreeing to a $ 24 million four-year deal with the Bengals.
But he also has an eye for the ball. In the past four seasons, he has received seven interceptions, nearly half of the total of the Bengals cornerbacks in the same piece (15).
The Bengals paid the price because they were active in the free agency early on. The three deals are worth about $ 106 million and took up almost all of the $ 20 million under the annual salary cap they awarded to new players. But they can still make room by taking on the contract of eight-time Pro Bowl defense pack Geno Atkins, who will count for more than $ 14 million, as well as a few other veterans. They also allocated about $ 11 million for the rookie pool they only need to use in May.
The Bengals have faced the loss of one of their leading players from special teams, tighthead prop Cethan Carter, against the Miami Dolphins by extending their best team player, Brandon Wilson, for another two years.