MAY 13: Hendrickson is not taking part in Tuesday’s Bengals practice, but Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic notes he is in attendance. Hendrickson is expected to speak to the media later today, so he could provide further insight shortly into his situation.
MAY 12: No resolution is in sight in the case of Trey Hendrickson. The All-Pro edge rusher’s latest remarks make it clear the Bengals are not actively speaking about an extension with his representatives. 
“No communication has taken place between my camp and the organization post draft,” a statement Hendrickson provided to ESPN’s Adam Schefter reads. “The [extension] offers prior to the draft did not reflect the vision we shared and [which] were promised last offseason if I continued to play at a high level. Coaches are aware of these past conversations.
“Rather than using collaboration to get us to a point to bring me home to the team, THEY are no longer communicating. I have been eagerly awaiting a resolution of this situation, but that’s hard to do when there is no discussion and an evident lack of interest in reaching mutual goals.”
Throughout the offseason, questions have loomed about whether or not the Bengals would be able to extend wideouts Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins while also working out a new deal with Hendrickson. Chase and Higgins are on the books for the foreseeable future, and Cincinnati’s intention leading up to the draft remained an agreement with Hendrickson. Multiple trade offers were rejected, an indication the team was still pursuing a long-term accord.
Team and player previously worked out a stop-gap deal in preparation for a lucrative extension, something Hendrickson sought last year. He did not engage in a holdout in response to Cincinnati declining to meet that request, a move which saw him duplicate 2023’s sack total (17.5). That figure led the NFL and yielded Hendrickson a fourth straight Pro Bowl nod. He is in line for a pact bringing with it a significant raise, and the top of the EDGE market now sits at $40MM per year.
Given his age, Hendrickson may not reach the top of his position’s financial pecking order, but a major accord would bring with it major Bengals cap implications. The FAU product has previously gone public with his displeasure over his situation and a lack of communication with the team. Given these latest comments, that problem apparently persists.
Opinions are split amongst PFR’s readers with respect to what will happen in this case. Hendrickson remains a candidate to be traded, extended or depart on the open market next spring. As things stand, a Cincinnati pact beyond 2025 would require considerable progress in negotiations.
Three words: Honolulu Blue Silver
I’ve thought that would be a perfect fit. If their pass rush is still flagging at the deadline, they need to make this move. I’ll expect the Bengals will be under-prforming like they always do and trying to play catch up the second half of the season, so they should be open to it.
He’s coming to Minnesota. They still have the cap space and the need. With him, that defense is the best in the league.
The Brown family doesn’t have the liquidity to do another big deal this year. The downside of an owner that has all his wealth derived from the franchise itself.
Well it’s not like his replacement isn’t already holding out either, right??
I know Hendrickson was just reading a statement prepared by his agent but if there is “no discussion and an evident lack of interest” wouldn’t that suggest that the goals aren’t mutual?
I doubt he is. I think that’s genuinely what the Bengals are doing.
Well I for one am shocked.
Cincinnati has handled all of these contract situations and negotiations so well to this point /s
Hendrickson has been one of the most impactful FA signings of all time. Like up there with Reggie White in how impactful he’s been. It’s a shame they didn’t take care of him for outperforming his original contract. They’re obviously just going to sit on him this year and let him walk, but that’s one of the reasons the Bengals are never going to win anything.
Exactly.
Hendrickson has never said a number, just he wants to be paid like his counterparts. What’s his number? Maybe he’s saying he wants 40 or 45 million and there’s no way they are paying that. TJ Watt is making 28 million and has led the league in sacks three out of the last five years. The other two being Hendrickson and Bosa. Bosa is making 30 million this year. Hendrickson needs to come out with a number and stop trying to make the Bengals look bad because they won’t meet some phantom number he has in his head.
If Hendrickson has said he wants to be paid a salary equal to the top earners at the position then we can do the math can’t we? He’s going to try to make the Bengals look ungrateful and cheap and they are going to counter by trying to make him look selfish and greedy. This is all part of the posturing process we always encounter in these situations… so take everything reported with a grain of salt.
CEL–I don’t want to do the math. He needs to say,” I want x amount of dollars,” not “I want somewhere between 25 and 40 million , you pick a number and I’ll say yes or no.” Pretty simple. What’s his counter to the Bengals proposal, “You’re getting warmer, nope, now your getting colder.” He’s thirty and been banging hard for quite a few years. Is this the year he falls apart, or is it next year when he’s making 35 million? Sign him to a one year contract and be done with it, unless he’s holding out for a 2 or 3 year contract which is pretty iffy at his age.
He doesn’t need to say anything to you if you’re not negotiating his contract.
He’s been trying to get a contract for two years. The number has gone up because the market went up and they didn’t take care of him. Like why do some of you fans do this silliness even when you have cheap owners with documented histories like Mike Brown? It was said that $28 mil would have gotten it done at a point. Imagine playing for less than half of every other top DE in the league when you’ve been one of the top two or three, and a fan is siding with the dummy owners talking about we don’t even know what he wants.
RFB- Yada, yada, yada. That Mike Brown is cheap garbage went out the window a long time ago. Cheap owners don’t have a 55 million dollar QB and two receivers making a combined 55 million or more. If I go in for a job interview and tell them I want a competitive wage and the ask me for a number and I keep saying I want a competitive wage they’re going think I’m a nut. Don’t right out and say a number, then say the Bengals don’t want to pay that number.
Are you seriously questioning this when you have a rookie sitting out of training camp because they’re trying to penny pinch on when the guaranteed salary gets paid? Still don’t have an indoor practice facility in 2025, something mid level colleges have now. Still have the smallest scouting department in the league with family members getting involved in scouting players. Yeah, but that cheap stuff went out the window because you had a fluky Super Bowl run with one of the top four QBs in the league but can’t get out of your own way to dominate with him like you should.
Yeah, he knows EXACTLY what he will be paid, to the penny. What’s there to negotiate about? If he gets hurt, guess what, he still gets paid. Sitting out doesn’t gain him a penny. So why is he doing it?
If the Brown’s weren’t so cheap, they’d likely have one a Super Bowl in the last five years. Unfortunately for their fans, they wait too long to pay market price and then have no money to pay for a defense. Rinse and repeat…
Just trade him! Once you paid both your wideouts it was obvious he was the odd man out anyway.
Should have traded him for assets. They can’t afford to pay him and disgruntled players are bad for the room.
It’s somewhat ironic that the typical NFL owner would rather have disgruntled fans in the stadium than a disgruntled player in the room.
He should have been paid already, even before Higgins but I actually believe management could still be punishing him for not producing in the 2022 postseason. Crazy yes, but you really never know with this team?