Cincinnati Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson entered the offseason hoping to land a contract extension that would make him one of the highest paid NFL players in 2025. While teammates Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins landed market-setting deals, Cincinnati’s All-Pro pass rusher is waiting for his.
Hendrickson, age 30, wanted a multi-year extension last season, but Cincinnati never came close to his price. He responded with a career-best season, leading the NFL in sacks and earning first-team All-Pro honors while finishing second in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
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- Trey Hendrickson stats: 54 pressures, 36 QB hits, 19 tackles for loss, 17.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles
As Cincinnati focused its efforts on negotiating extensions with Higgins and Chase, the price for edge rushers skyrocketed. Maxx Crosby signed an extension with the Las Vegas Raiders worth $35.5 million per year and then Myles Garrett landed a new contract worth $40 million per season. As a result, Hendrickson’s asking price has increased considerably.
The Bengals granted the four-time Pro Bowl selection permission to seek a trade, while reportedly setting a high asking price that no club was going to meet. With Hendrickson seemingly stuck in Cincinnati, his hopes of landing a new deal also aren’t going well.
Appearing on SportsCenter, ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler reports contract talks between the Bengals and Hendrickson have ‘stalled’ with the star pass rusher also reportedly unwilling to play on his current deal.
“He has no intention of playing under his current contract, which has one year and $16 million left. He needs a new deal, but the Bengals have just simply not shown an eagerness to trade Hendrickson. And there’s interest, there is trade interest from other teams trying to make this work, but it would take a really hefty trade package. Teams aren’t willing to do that and pay Hendrickson right now. So, as much as I want to go with the field, I still think they can work something out, Hendrickson and the Bengals, on a new deal. It’s been stagnant of late, it’s sort of stalled, but they have a couple of months at least to try to shake this out and get a new deal done.”
ESPN NFL reporter Jeremy Fowler on the Cincinnati Bengals contract talks with Trey Hendrickson
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- Trey Hendrickson contract (Spotrac): $18.666 million cap hit in 2025, NFL free agent in 2026
This is the second time it’s been reported that Hendrickson is outright not willing to play on his current deal. It’s only a threat right now, one potentially put out by his representatives to try and influence the Bengals. The question is whether Cincinnati caves by trading him or extending him. Alternatively, they could call his bluff and see if he’s truly willing to sit out regular-season games.
Hendrickson would lose out on his game checks for every regular-season game he missed and holding out of training camp results in a daily $50,000 penalty for every mandatory day of practice missed. That’s a massive gamble for Hendrickson to make, but Cincinnati also needs its best defensive player to compete for the AFC North next season. While there’s a great deal of uncertainty about how this situation is resolved, one guarantee is that the back-and-forth between the two sides will likely get uglier and more public this summer.
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