CINCINNATI (WKRC) – The Bengals have handled Trey Hendrickson correctly despite criticism that says otherwise.
The Bengals did the defensive end a solid by granting him permission to seek a trade, but if a team willing to give him a lucrative contract extension isn’t willing to give the Bengals high-end draft pick value in return, then perhaps the prudent move would be to make him play out his contract here.
That obviously won’t make Hendrickson happy since he said during Super Bowl week that he wanted the Bengals to sign him to an extension or trade him. However, the way the market was re-set in the last week for top-flight pass rushers makes it hard to see him getting an extension in Cincinnati.
Hendrickson is set to make $15.8 million in base salary in the 2025 season, and just a few weeks ago it looked like an extension would cost somewhere between $25-$28 million per year. His valuation from OverTheCap.com is $28 million per year, and his market value from OverTheCap.com is $31 million average annual value.
The market has changed drastically.
With Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby landing a three-year, $106 million extension (roughly $35 million AAV) on March 5 that includes $91.5 million guaranteed, and Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett becoming the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL on Sunday with a four-year deal at an average annual salary of $40 million, the price tag for Hendrickson has understandably increased.
After all, Hendrickson led the NFL in sacks last year with 17.5 and he also had 17.5 in 2023. Since signing with the Bengals as a free agent in 2021 he has 57.0 sacks. For comparison sake, Garrett had 14.0 each of the last two seasons and 60.0 over the last four seasons, while Crosby had 7.5 sacks last season (in only 12 games played) and 42.5 sacks since 2021.
Maybe Hendrickson isn’t worth as much as Garrett (who is two years younger), but he certainly is worth as much as Crosby.
Whatever the true value for Hendrickson is it has probably gotten to a point where the Bengals simply can’t afford to pay it or it wouldn’t be prudent to do so (especially with extensions for Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins in the mix).
Albert Breer of SI.com wrote in his weekly column on Monday: “I don’t see the Bengals moving Trey Hendrickson for less than a second-round pick. It’s a tricky spot for Cincinnati to be in—finding a team to give up a premium pick and $30 million (or more) per year for a 31-year-old pass rusher isn’t easy. Hendrickson’s camp at one point told the Bengals they could bring home a first-rounder for him, but that hasn’t happened.”
If that makes trading Hendrickson an unreasonable proposition for the Bengals then it brings us to the only other conclusion: have him play out this season under his current contract.
He can pout, sit out OTAs and even miss some of training camp, but if he wants to get paid after this season he’s going to have to perform at a high level.
It may not be fair, but the market has gone crazy at his position, and unfortunately the free agent market to find his replacement isn’t very good. You could argue that the Bengals should have gotten an extension done earlier at a more reasonable price, but don’t think for a second he wouldn’t be asking to re-do that extension as soon as possible after the deals Crosby and Garrett got.
The Bengals have Hendrickson for this season and after it’s over they can let him head off to free agency and then get a compensatory pick (perhaps akin to what they may have been offered in a trade, anyway). There’s also the option of placing the franchise tag on him in 2026.
The Bengals did the right thing in letting Hendrickson explore the market and so far it doesn’t seem like there are a lot of teams willing to give him what he wants, and those few who do apparently are unwilling or unable to give the Bengals what they want in return.
That certainly could change, but if it doesn’t the prudent thing to do is keep him and find his replacement next offseason.