And while some point to Hendrickson’s elite linemates at the Saints (four times Pro Bowler Cam Jordan, Marcus Davenport in the first round, David Onyemata 6.5 sacks on the tackle), as well as the Saints always have the main attack. and wondering if Hendrickson can do that in Cincinnati, the Bengals see 13.5 bags as 13.5 bags.
Only one player reached that number in Cincinnati (Carlos Dunlap) and while Lawson did his damage of 5.5 sacks and 32 hitting strikes in 728 hitting last season, Hendrickson had 13.5 sacks and 25 hitting in 558 moves. With 18 sacks in his last 28 games, they believe they have one of the best young pass players in the league at the moment he is starting to climb.
Youth also seemed to be a factor in Awuzie’s signature 6-0 and 202 pounds. He is a stable player, whose first three years in the league were solid before he lost half of the games last year with a hamstring and COVID-19 problem. He has built a reputation for reliability and being where he should be. Awuzie, who will turn 26 on Opening Day, was ranked higher on the ESPN board than Jackson, a guy who turns 29 in the middle of this season.
Hilton, 27, completed a long climb on Tuesday. It all started as an untrained Mississippi rookie in 2016, who was dismissed by the Jaguars at the end of his debut season before finishing on the Steelers training team the following year.
When the season was over, he led all the NFL cornerbacks on the Pro Football Focus charts with 15 pressures like an ace blitzer. He played in a second round of bidding last year, before agreeing to a four-year, $ 24 million deal with Bengals.
But he also has an eye for the ball. In the last four seasons he has managed seven interceptions, almost half of the total of Bengals’ cornerbacks on that same stretch (15).
The Bengals paid the price for being active from the start at the free agency. The three deals are worth about $ 106 million and have consumed almost all of the $ 20 million with this year’s salary cap that they have earmarked for new players. But they can still make room by adjusting the contract for eight-time defensive Pro Bowl player Geno Atkins, set to have more than $ 14 million, as well as some other veterans. They also allocated about $ 11 million to the pool of newbies who don’t need to use until May.
The Bengals reacted to the loss of one of their best players on special teams, the tight end Cethan Carter to the Miami Dolphins, extending their best team player, Brandon Wilson, for two more years.