Trey Hendrickson’s deal should probably force the Bengals to do something they never do.
The big story for the Cincinnati Bengals has been laid out for a while now. How will negotiations play out with Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Trey Hendrickson?
Hendrickson, in particular, will be interesting to watch. He has a year left on his deal, but he has stated essentially he wants to sign an extension or get traded.
Adam Schefter talked on the Pat McAfee show about it being complicated.
“Trey Hendrickson led the league in sacks this year and it’s gonna be a hard deal to get done for the Bengals..
I think there’s a team out there that’s willing to pay him a lot of money” ~ @AdamSchefter#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/yyxwq1OBVL
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) February 26, 2025
Hendrickson being the sack leader this past season and having 17.5 sacks each of the past two seasons creates the same dilemma they face with Chase after his triple crown season.
The problem is Chase is in his prime, and Hendrickson is on the wrong side of 30. Based on the Bengals’ history, they have generally avoided giving big contracts to guys who will be on the decline.
Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin mentioned wanting to keep Hendrickson along with Chase and Higgins. Maybe they see this as a special circumstance, as they don’t exactly have any pass rushers to fall back on after Hendrickson.
When asked about potentially trading Hendrickson, Tobin attempted to shoot that scenario down.
“I never really talked about open preferences for trading guys, because all that does is take on a life of its own,” Tobin said this week at the NFL Combine. “And that’s not something I want to do, because I want Trey on our football team. He’s under contract.
“We’re looking to we’re looking to pay him for what we believe will be really good future years, and we see him as not falling off in his career.”
Tobin has also specifically said they will make Ja’Marr Chase the highest-paid non-quarterback. Well, from Hendrickson’s perspective, he just led the NFL in sacks on a defensive line where he was the only pass-rushing threat. That may be why he is so candid about getting paid or traded.
While the Bengals may have an issue giving him a deal, there are surely teams willing to pay him premiere money.
Then again, dealing Hendrickson opens up the possibility of some serious draft capital to try and rebuild the defense. However, dealing with Hendrickson makes that task even harder.
Cincinnati should probably bite the bullet and pay Hendrickson to avoid the Jessie Bates dilemma of using tons of money and draft capital in an effort to replace a productive player who wanted more money.
