PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The pause between words felt even heavier as Katie Blackburn's sentence was suspended in the Florida humidity last Tuesday.
In her session with local reporters at the NFL annual league meeting in West Palm Beach, the Cincinnati Bengals executive vice president looked for the right word to describe defensive end Trey Hendrickson's contract situation.
But after approximately 6.08 seconds, Blackburn finally found the right word.
"Unresolved, I guess you could say," Blackburn said.
The statement was in response to a question about the team's big offseason expenditures. In what seemed improbable six months earlier, the team signed wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to multi-year extensions worth a combined $276 million.
That context is pivotal when analyzing how the Bengals are building for 2025 and beyond. If Cincinnati is going to get back to the Super Bowl, it will be on the strength of the three players with the biggest deals -- Chase, Higgins and quarterback Joe Burrow.
"We are going to have to figure out how to work the pieces around that," Blackburn said. "It can be done."
There are other pressing needs for a Bengals team that enjoyed career years from its best players in 2024 but still missed the playoffs for the second straight season. But the priority for the Bengals was making sure Chase and Higgins were part of the offensive attack moving forward.
Blackburn said "there's no question" that the calculus of re-signing two players who will occupy a fifth of the team's cap space in 2025 meant making decisions across the roster. That includes trying to resolve the Hendrickson dilemma.
The 31-year-old edge rusher led the NFL in sacks last season with 17.5. He and Chase were the team's first All-Pro selections since 2015. And for the second straight year, Hendrickson requested a trade in order to get a long-term contract and a pay bump.
This offseason, Cincinnati granted Hendrickson permission to seek a trade. Blackburn said Hendrickson felt strongly about exploring options as Cincinnati ran into limitations while trying to get all of the deals done this offseason.
But given what the Bengals invested in Chase and Higgins and the market for edge rushers that currently has a ceiling of $40 million a year, Blackburn was asked if it's feasible to get something done with Hendrickson at a rate everyone can be happy with moving forward.
"I think he should be happy at certain rates that maybe he doesn't think he'd be happy at," the executive vice president said.
Then Blackburn took a couple of seconds to pause.
"I think some of it is on him to be happy at some point," Blackburn said. "If he's not, that's what holds it up sometimes."
Hendrickson responded to those comments by lamenting the lack of communication from the Bengals to his agent, Harold Lewis. He said he was "disappointed" in the Bengals' stance.
The Bengals have the No. 17 pick in the draft and could address the pass rush situation via that route.
Blackburn also pointed out that Hendrickson is current still a Bengal, with his contract set to run through 2025 with a base salary of $15.8 million. Blackburn, who is the one who negotiates and signs off on the team's biggest contracts, also said the team has great respect for Hendrickson and hopes the two sides can work something out.
But ultimately, the Bengals have firmly made their decision. For this team to get back to winning at the highest level, it will be spearheaded by Burrow and his top playmakers.
Cincinnati believes the familiarity and consistency between Burrow and his top receivers should be a major strength this season.
"We did focus on trying to keep that offensive piece together because we think that gives us an opportunity to have the best chance to win," Blackburn said.
That approach also factored into finding a potential starting offensive guard. The team released veteran Alex Cappa and brought in Lucas Patrick in free agency. Bengals coach Zac Taylor had effusive praise for Patrick and how well he matches up against the interior defensive linemen Cincinnati faces.
But on a one-year deal worth just $2 million, even that decision was built around Burrow, Chase and Higgins.
"We went through a process with our receivers and we wanted to make sure that they got paid first and foremost," Taylor said. "Then we worked through (the guard market) as well."
The expectations are clear for the upcoming season. Blackburn believes the team has the ability, talent and opportunity to do well in 2025. Now it's a matter of living up to those aspirations.
Said Blackburn: "You have to take advantage of the opportunities we have this year and get the results we want."