The Bengals will be without defensive end Trey Hendrickson for the rest of the season as he is expected to set to undergo core muscle surgery, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Monday.

Hendrickson will be sidelined for six weeks, which is essentially the rest of the season as there’s just four regular season games left. The Bengals aren’t expected to make the playoffs right now as they hold a 4–9 record.

The four-time Pro Bowler suffered the injury back in Week 6, and then hasn’t played since Week 8 after he sustained a hip injury. There was hope he would return at some point this season, but that won’t be the case.

Hendrickson is set to become free agent

Hendrickson was involved in one of the most intense contract disputes of the offseason as he and the Bengals couldn’t get a deal figured out until late August. He held off from participating in camps until late July. In the end, Cincinnati gave Hendrickson a $14 million raise on his salary for the 2025 season, boosting it up to $30 million. It still took months for the two sides to come to an agreement after Hendrickson issued various statements expressing his disappointment for the lack of movement from the Bengals.

Hendrickson will become an unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason, though, unless the two sides can figure out a long-term deal to keep him in Cincinnati. There’s a good chance the defensive end will land elsewhere for the 2026 season. If that ends up being the case, then his career with the Bengals is now over with his upcoming surgery in the works.