Trey Hendrickson wanted free agency. Yesterday, he got it.
The best available free agent on [the PFT Top 100 list](https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/nfl-top-100-free-agents-2026-george-pickens-tops-the-list) has yet to get a deal.
The absence of a contract suggests he wants more than the market will bear. If someone was willing to meet his demands, a deal would have been done by now.
The problem for Hendrickson is that teams with cash and cap space to burn have been doing so. Budgets get busted, and there’s less money left for him.
On one hand, it’s still early. On the other hand, the numbers are never going to get better than they would have been on the first day.
A multi-year deal remains possible. Multiple teams may have something on the table, waiting for Hendrickson to take it. At some point, those teams may move on to other options. At some point, Hendrickson may have to take a one-year deal for the best possible number and hope to do it again next year — ideally with a no-tag clause in the deal.
Regardless, it’s a much different vibe from the last time Hendrickson became a free agent. Five years ago, the former Saint agreed to terms on a four-year, $60 million deal with the Bengals on the first day of the negotiating period.