While the Cincinnati Bengals may not be willing to give Hendrickson a lot of money this offseason to stay in Cincinnati, is any other team going to be willing to give him the money he commands?
If the Bengals tag-and-trade him, is there going to be a willing trade partner that wants to acquire an edge rusher who’s over 30 years old and can be a headcahe at times for any team’s front office? If the Bengals release him or let him walk in free agency, is there a team that will want to pay him a lot of money to sign him?
Those questions are what make this situation interesting. We always think about what the Bengals will do or won’t do. But what about other teams? They may have a bigger say in how things play out with Trey Hendrickson than the Bengals do.
FOX Sports’ Greg Auman projects Hendrickson to leave the Bengals, the AFC North, and the AFC entirely. The destination? Chicago, to play for the resurgent Bears.
“Hendrickson, 31, doesn’t have the luster he had a year ago,” Auman said. “Instead of coming off back-to-back 17.5-sack seasons and four straight Pro Bowls, he’s now coming off core muscle surgery in December that limited him to four sacks in seven games in 2025. He got a one-year, $29 million deal from the Bengals last year, but isn’t likely to draw as much this time around. ESPN has him as the league’s No. 1 overall free agent, but will he get more than one year guaranteed, and at much more than $20 million a year? He needs 19 sacks to reach 100 for his career and could easily get that in two more healthy seasons.”
Hendrickson will be seeking a multi-year deal with multiple years of guaranteed money. If he doesn’t get that, though, could that play into the Bengals’ favor?
This situation actually has many more layers than some might think.
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