Trey Hendrickson DE Cincinnati Bengals
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Trey Hendrickson DE Cincinnati Bengals
Another day, another player contract story involving the Cincinnati Bengals. For a while it was wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins waiting to get paid and now it’s the ongoing saga with Trey Hendrickson. That’s not to mention the fact that the team’s top two 2025 NFL Draft picks still aren’t signed.
Hendrickson is the real issue here, since Chase and Higgins are signed and most people know that the Bengals will eventually get Shemar Stewart and Demetrius Knight signed to their rookie deals. And, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer really believes that Hendrickson will eventually get a deal done with the Bengals, but they might need the help of their quarterback.
“Because I think Joe Burrow has real power there, my guess is they’ll get something done,” Breer wrote on Wednesday. “I just don’t know how they’ll get there. This is the third consecutive offseason it’s been an issue for Cincinnati. Hendrickson’s initial deal was a COVID-19-affected discount deal. He got a Band-Aid extension in the summer of 2023. He got nowhere last summer, and generally when a guy has to wait that long, he won’t be looking to cut his team a break.”
Hendrickson isn’t young at 30-years old, but he’s not ancient either. He played in all 17 games and recorded 17.5 sacks in each of the past two seasons. Last year, he was a first-team All-Pro and led the entire NFL in sacks.
Is Hendrickson going to get elite-player money?
Hendrickson is currently scheduled to make $15.8 million in base salary this year, which is far below his market value. Breer doesn’t think he’s going to get market-setting money, but he does believe that he certainly deserves a healthy raise.
“Meanwhile, the market has materially changed,” Breer continued. “Hendrickson may not be the sort of war daddy pass rusher such as Myles Garrett and Nick Bosa, who both demanded market-changing deals. But Hendrickson did have 35 sacks the past two years, so he’s more than within reason to expect to get where Danielle Hunter and Maxx Crosby did this offseason, somewhere around $35 million per year.
“The Cincinnati Bengals haven’t gone there yet. We’ll see if they do.”
Other defensive players up for big contracts
If the Bengals want to keep Hendrickson, they’d be wise (that’s a big “if”) to do it before several other big names around the NFL get their deals. If they think Garrett got a big-money deal from the Cleveland Browns at four-years and $160 million, their eyes might pop when they see what T.J. Watt, Aidan Hutchinson and/or Micah Parsons get.
Watt is also in the final year of his deal and he currently has ongoing negotiations with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He’s also 30-years old, so Hendrickson will probably be watching this one closely.
Hutchinson is just now eligible to get a contract extension, but he’s coming off of a season-ending injury and still has two year remaining on his rookie deal. The Detroit Lions don’t have any urgency to get this done immediately.
Parson is another story. The Dallas Cowboys have some Cincinnati Bengals in them. They have a history of dragging their feet with stars they have to keep and Parsons is no different. His extension could have happened last year, it didn’t get done and now he’s missing OTAs.
Maybe the Bengals should see how the Cowboys handle the Parsons’ situation and do the exact opposite. Burrow might have to help.