Bengals’ Trey Hendrickson $14 million contract decision is about a whole list of worries originally appeared on The Sporting News
The Cincinnati Bengals apparently got what they wanted.
The headline from The Athletic says it all: “Bengals never had interest in 2026 Trey Hendrickson.”
That headline, and the story that follows from beat reporter Paul Dehner, explains everything about why Hendrickson took an unprecedented contract step on Monday.
To end his hold-in and trade request, Hendrickson didn’t get an extension. Instead, he simply got a $14 million raise for 2025.
Instead of playing the season for $16 million, he’ll play it for $30 million.
All along, the Bengals were hesitant to give Hendrickson any money after the first year, and their future worries were the reason why. In the end, they won’t have to give him any 2026 money, and he’ll likely depart Cincinnati after the season.
Here’s how Dehner explained the worries:
“Hendrickson had every right to tell the Bengals to kick rocks. Take as much as he can get and hit free agency in March. He was stuck. He’s been stuck since the day he signed that one-year extension back in 2023. He’ll have regrets about that for years, as it kept him from hitting the open market before last season. It handed all the leverage over to the Bengals here. They decided to use it to avoid being locked into Hendrickson beyond his 31st birthday this December. They were always worried about the age. They were worried about his lack of production against the run. They were worried about the future of a defense that, despite Hendrickson’s 35 sacks the last two seasons, was still one of the worst in football. They didn’t view him in the same stratosphere as Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase.”
Hendrickson could’ve made a different contract choice, but once the Bengals got here, it appears they knew they wanted this to be their last obligation year to their star pass rusher.
At this point, it seems quite unlikely Hendrickson sticks around.
But by waiting it out, he got an eight-figure raise, and that’s not nothing.
He’ll put off further worries about his future until the end of the season.
