There appears to be no end in sight to the standoff between Trey Hendrickson and the Bengals. While the 2025 version of the organization would benefit from an immediate resolution, it doesn’t sound like that will end up coming to fruition. While Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic says that the “best play” for the Bengals’ chemistry would be to wrap up this saga ASAP, the writer doesn’t anticipate a new deal being signed before training camp.
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To review: Hendrickson has made it clear he doesn’t intend to play the upcoming season on his expiring contract, and the pass rusher also admitted that negotiations between the two sides got personal. The Bengals have been known to dig their heels during negotiations, and they’ve also been apprehensive about giving veterans a third NFL contract. That would seem to signal that Hendrickson’s tenure with the organization would soon be coming to an end, although the team hasn’t been all that receptive to dealing the star defender.
For what it’s worth, we heard recently that the two sides resumed communications as they work towards a contract resolution, with the front office starting to feel some desperation to get their defensive leader back on the practice field. Of course, after handing out lucrative new contracts to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, the cash-strapped Bengals may be hard pressed to fit Hendrickson into their cap sheet.
We also heard that there’s been a disagreement about the structure of any contract. While Hendrickson is rightfully seeking some long-term security, the Bengals have traditionally front loaded contracts so they’d have the ability to bail early. The two sides dealt with similar negotiations last offseason, with the Bengals and the defender ultimately agreeing to a one-year, $21MM extension that kept him attached to Cincy through the upcoming season.
That $21MM average annual value keeps Hendrickson just outside of the top-10 among pass rushers, although the four-time Pro Bowler certainly deserves to be among the highest-paid players at his position. Since joining the Bengals ahead of the 2021 campaign, Hendrickson has compiled 57 sacks, a total that already places him sixth on the franchise’s all-time leaderboard. The veteran has been especially productive over the past two seasons, collecting a total of 35 sacks.
We heard recently that Hendrickson is still willing to hold out into the regular season if necessary. Assuming the organization wants to avoid that worst-case scenario, they’ll have to make some major progress in negotiations over the next month-plus.