The Cincinnati Bengals and Trey Hendrickson have resumed communication in some fashion, but the longer the team waits to get a deal done with their star pass rusher, the more they risk making this deal an even greater expense than anticipated.

Hendrickson made it clear that he has no plans of playing this year on his current deal. The Bengals gave him permission to seek a trade in March, but opted to keep the All-Pro defensive end. Make sure you bookmark BengalsTalk.com for the latest Bengals news, exclusive interviews, insight, film breakdowns and so much more!

One could debate for a long time whether the Bengals will care at all about what the Steelers do with T.J. Watt or otherwise. The fact Hendrickson was permitted to seek a trade and couldn’t find one, though, continues to hint that the Bengals hold most of the leverage, regardless.