Cincinnati Bengals’ defensive end Trey Hendrickson wants a new contract. He deserves one and has seen his peers get paid this offseason.
The Bengals have yet to make a worthy offer, and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport recently discussed the situation on “The Pat McAfee Show”.
Trey Hendrickson Deal Will Get Done, According to Insider
Hendrickson was a 2017 third-round pick of the New Orleans Saints and joined the Bengals in 2021. He signed a four-year, $60 million contract with Cincinnati, then a one-year, $21 million extension in 2023.
He’s been a stud since arriving in Cincinnati, making the Pro Bowl all four years, and leading the league with 17.5 sacks last season. Hendrickson was named first-team All-Pro and finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting for his efforts in 2024.
His on-field performance speaks for itself, but the Bengals haven’t gotten a deal done yet. Hendrickson’s contract has been a topic of discussion since the Super Bowl, but still, no deal has been made.
The defensive end recently said, “No communication has taken place between my camp and the organization post draft. The offers prior to the draft did not reflect the vision we shared and were promised last offseason if I continued to play at a high level.” The article from Pro Football Talk also referenced comments from Bengals EVP Katie Blackburn.
In her own statement earlier this offseason, she said, “It’s on [Hendrickson] to be happy at some point.” She said how the team has the utmost respect for Hendrickson, but that’s not what the All-Pro wanted to hear. That led to Rapoport’s recent ESPN appearance.
McAfee asked, “What the hell is going on with Trey Hendrickson and the Bengals? And if this was going to end up with him being traded, why haven’t they already done that? Maybe before he draft. What do you think, and why do you think this is all happening from where your point of view is?”
"I believe if the Bengals were gonna trade Trey Hendrickson it would have happened already..
I understand why he's upset because he deserves more money..
I believe they're gonna give it to him but they haven't struck a deal yet" ~ @RapSheet #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/7YfJf1pFzJ
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow)
Rapoport addressed the second part of the question first, saying, “I believe you’re correct. If the Bengals were going to trade him, it probably would have happened already. Not that trades can’t happen after the draft, but generally, trades either happen before the draft or around cut-down day when there’s literally no other time to get something done, and a team says, ‘This is not gonna happen, let’s just trade you.’
“There’s been some communication between him and the team. There hasn’t been contract communication. That’s the good stuff. You want negotiations. You want offers. You want real stuff. That has not happened.”
The Bengals have put themselves in a tough spot by not getting a deal done yet. Myles Garrett and Maxx Crosby each signed massive extensions this offseason, which will increase Hendrickson’s price tag. Crosby signed a three-year, $106.5 million extension, and Garrett reset the EDGE market by signing a four-year, $160 million deal a few days later.
Rapoport believes Hendrickson is worth the money. He continued, “I understand why he’s upset, I do. There’s no real deadline now. There’s nothing to force the team to do anything. There’s not mandatory minicamp where he’s going to show up or not. There’s nothing. He wants a deal, but the team hasn’t shown the urgency that he wants.
“He deserves a raise. He is awesome, and he deserves more money. I believe they’re gonna give it to him, it just hasn’t happened yet. They haven’t struck the right deal yet. The Bengals are just a little bit more of a methodical organization than a lot of teams, and we saw how long it took for them to do the Ja’Marr [Chase] and Tee [Higgins] deal.”
Cincinnati is notorious for being one of the cheaper franchises in the NFL, but they dished out a lot of money to their elite receiving duo. Will they do the same for Hendrickson? Rapoport thinks so, saying, “I empathize with him being mad, but I do believe they are gonna pay him properly, and then eventually get this done. Then he’ll be on the field, rich and happy.”
Hendrickson has earned a new contract, but until the Bengals give him one, he’ll continue to be disgruntled.