Bengals Update Addresses Trey Hendrickson Trade Potential

Once the Cincinnati Bengals' All-Pro pass rusher Trey Hendrickson was given permission to seek a trade, there appeared to be a divide that wasn't going to be brought back together this offseason.

Then after Hendrickson put the front office on blast about not honoring their word in his contract extension negotiations, things seemed to have somehow gotten worse.

But after no trade offers were seriously considered and no progress was made on a new contract, we're now left at a standstill that only leads to speculation about Hendrickson's future in Cincy.

A trade of the NFL's sack champion from last season continues to be the topic of conversation, but Bleacher Report's insider James Palmer has given a compelling update that seems to calm those ideas, too.

"I just think it’s hard when you mentioned him getting moved when everyone’s already spent their money in free agency. They already went through the Draft and filled some holes there as well," Palmer said.

"The amount of money that you probably have to have, because you’re not going to trade for [Hendrickson] and not sign him. It’s gonna be a difficult process... Deals like this don’t happen, trade wise, at this point in the NFL calendar very often."

Hendrickson has seemingly gotten better with age, which assumes Cincinnati would want to maximize his career in their Super Bowl aspirations during the Burrow-Chase-Higgins era.

The edge rusher, now 30 years old, leads the NFL in combined sacks over the last two seasons with 35. He has accumulated double-digit sacks in four of the last five seasons of his eight-year career. That includes his total from 2023-24 (17.5) being a career high.

"I do think something gets done. I think he ends up staying," Palmer claims.

"I think that’s the most likely type of thing that ends up happening... You don’t make the deals for Ja’Marr [Chase] and Tee Higgins, and you have the deal in place for Joe [Burrow], and you push for all of those contracts to be done to not be on a Super Bowl pursuit. You can’t win a Super Bowl without a star pass rusher.

"And so if you're looking to part ways with him, are you all in on a Super Bowl?"

The calendar isn't going to be slowing down anytime soon on Hendrickson's holdout if the Bengals can't figure out how to sweeten his deal.

Cincinnati is burning time - and certainly in this case - money the longer Hendrickson stays without an extension.