The Bengals and All-Pro edge rusher Trey Hendrickson have agreed to a raise for this season as the reigning NFL sack champion begins defense of his title when Cincinnati heads to Cleveland Sept. 7 to start a run he believes can end with a Super Bowl championship.
“No. 9 is spinning it, so we’ve got a shot,” said Hendrickson of quarterback Joe Burrow after putting pen to paper late Monday afternoon.
With 13 days and six practices remaining before the opener, No. 91 wanted to make sure the numbers were in place for the Browns.
“It gives a lot of clarity to the 2025 defense,” Hendrickson said. “It gives us a couple of more good practices, and with a great offseason in the books, both personally and as a team, I feel like now we can go collectively play for the 2025 Bengals. And what’s best for the team is the best players playing in their relative positions.”
Hendrickson, who has attended meetings and been on the sidelines during training camp, is expected to return to practice Wednesday as one of the highest-paid edge rushers in the league. Reports have his new 2025 money at $30 million, and he indicated both sides are open to talking about a deal beyond this season.
“We’re taking one day at a time,” Hendrickson said. “Moving forward, we’ll figure that out as it goes. For this season, to be given a raise I didn’t necessarily had to have been given, it’s a blessing to be in a position where I’ve been brought up to my peers. And also being able to get after quarterbacks.
“I love this city and with what’s been happening the last couple of months, I’ve had time to reflect on what it means to me and how much I want to stay a Bengal for the 2025 season.”
The deal culminates an offseason the Bengals gave All-Pro wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase the highest non-quarterback deal ever while making Chase and Tee Higgins the league’s two richest receivers for 2025, and it comes nearly two years after they gave Burrow the NFL’s most lucrative contract in history.
With the Bengals poised to begin the season as a Super Bowl contender, new defensive coordinator Al Golden has been appreciative of what Hendrickson has brought to the table this month. A frequent image has been Hendrickson counseling first-round draft pick Shemar Stewart before and after his snaps on the edge.
Golden said before Saturday’s preseason finale that he anticipates Hendrickson, a disciple of Bengals head strength and conditioning coach Joey Boese, could be able “to plug and play.”
“I think, obviously, his play, his resume, warrants that,” Golden said. “He’s working on his conditioning with Joey and the staff, and he’s doing a great job with the playbook and everything. And obviously, if we can get him out there, we can transition him onto the field fairly quickly, given his expertise and experience.”
Hendrickson said he felt comfortable being around the team on the field while trying to get things done off it.
“There’s a tremendous amount of respect for the back and forth we had and the countless times of trying to make things work on multiple-year extensions all the way down to the raise,” Hendrickson said. “And what makes sense for the family at the time, and what was presented to us. This is what’s best for not only the 2025 Bengals, but also for my family personally. It’s a tremendous honor to get a raise and be respected for what I do.”
Hendrickson, 30, who has back-to-back 17.5-sack seasons, pretty much led the league from Nov. 3 on after his career-high four in the win over the Raiders. He finished with a flourish when his sack of Russell Wilson, with 20 seconds left in the season in Pittsburgh, gave him 3.5 for the game and helped preserve a 19-17 victory that kept them alive for the playoffs.
His target this year, he says, is elevating the sack numbers of his teammates. The closest person on the Bengals to him last season was Joseph Ossai, who got two of his five sacks in the last three games.
“I think the difference between me and the next guy last year was something I didn’t do a good enough job of bringing the rest of the defense with me,” Hendrickson said. “I’m looking forward to getting more guys around me with better production and helping those guys achieve their goals for their families that I’ve been able to achieve for mine. That’s what I’m most excited about. Bringing knowledge, being a better teammate and enjoying the process of the 2025 season.”
And he knows a lot of eyes are going to be on one of those teammates after Stewart’s impressive camp.
“A great football player with a tremendous amount of potential,” Hendrickson said. “And I think that potential, when tapped correctly, can be an incredibly productive player.”
