Three Trey Hendrickson trade windows opened this year. The Bengals let the then-disgruntled defensive end shop around in March, as the team moved Tee Higgins higher in its priority queue. In August, as bumpy extension talks persisted, Hendrickson trade rumors reappeared. At the deadline, buzz about Cincinnati being more amenable to moving on emerged.
But the Bengals still set a high asking price that, at the time, bordered on unrealistic. A report earlier this week indicated Cincy was still asking for a first-rounder. Hendrickson being in a contract year weeks from his 31st birthday made that a tough ask from the 3-6 team, and unsurprisingly, no takers emerged. As it turns out, however, the All-Pro may have been available for less than that price.
Teams believed on deadline day the Bengals would have moved on for a second-round pick, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. While trade talks with that price as the goal appear a bit more logical at this juncture, Fowler adds the Cowboys — who pursued Hendrickson — still viewed that cost as too steep.
Although Hendrickson notched back-to-back 17.5-sack seasons in 2023 and ’24, he has missed two of the past three games with a hip injury. The ninth-year defensive end does have four sacks and eight QB hits this season. Once again, though, the Bengals’ defense has performed poorly.
Hendrickson has provided an undeniable boost, but his presence has not moved the needle much for a team that has once again seen its defense impede a high-powered offense. Even as Joe Flacco‘s arrival has transformed the Bengals’ offensive capabilities — compared to the short Jake Browning period this season — they have lost back-to-back shootouts.
The Bengals were believed to have wanted more than a first-rounder for Hendrickson back in March. Although the Commanders and Falcons were among the teams connected to him, the Bengals balked. They are believed to have received an offer including a second-rounder and change before the draft; again, the team held on as a standoff — one of Cincy’s two contractual staredowns with a D-end this offseason (the other Shemar Stewart‘s rookie terms) — developed and lasted for most of the summer. It would appear the Bengals, only asking for a second this week, dropped their price from that level as well.
A report about the team dropping its price to a second in the summer did not receive much traction, and Hendrickson eventually received a raise — one that did not add any years to his deal. The 49ers, Eagles and Colts joined the Cowboys in pursuing Hendrickson at the deadline, but he will close out the season in Cincinnati.
Cincinnati has not been known as a particularly willing deadline seller, but it now faces the prospect of losing Hendrickson in free agency. Depending on how the Bengals’ free agency math finalizes, a 2027 compensatory pick could be part of this equation. The Bengals following their A.J. Green path and franchise-tagging a 31-year-old standout would not be out of character, though. Hendrickson said he signed his previous one-year, $21MM extension in fear Cincy would tag him in 2025. The Higgins situation not sorting itself out by then, leading to a second tag for the wide receiver, ultimately would have negated that prospect.
A Hendrickson 2026 tag would cost more than $30MM. Considering the help the Bengals will need on defense next year, devoting that kind of money to a tag would divert valuable resources. Hendrickson’s market will be interesting, as an early-30s standout. He pushed the Bengals for post-Year 1 guarantees — a third-rail topic in Cincinnati for most players — so that will naturally be a goal if he reaches free agency for the first time since 2021.