Cincinnati Bengals Make Bold Decision at NFL Trade Deadline

 The Bengals sealed Trey Hendrickson's football fate for the rest of the 2025 NFL season. Cincinnati held onto the All-Pro defensive end through Tuesday's trade deadline.

Hendrickson has been the Bengals' best defensive player this decade, but his watch continues after arriving in 2020 following time with the New Orleans Saints. He will not be moved this season to another team after the 4 p.m. ET deadline passed.

“I stopped doing hopes and all that stuff a long time ago,” Hendrickson said on Monday about the chances of being traded this week. “You are where your feet are, and I'm incredibly blessed to be where I am right now."

The four-time Pro Bowler and 2024 first-team All-Pro continues his time in Cincinnati with 61 sacks and 56 tackles for loss across 72 games.

Cincinnati will now play it out with Hendrickson entering another free-agency period for the star. The team can still franchise tag him, sign a new deal, or let him walk in free agency and potentially receive a compensatory draft pick.

"I mean, he's an elite rusher," Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said about Hendrickson this past offseason. "He's done a great job in this league for a long time, and since he's been here. So, obviously, he's a valuable part of our team."

Hendrickson has four sacks this season. He missed last week with a hip injury, but could return to action in Week 11. Cincinnati is off this week for its bye before facing the Pittsburgh Steelers on Nov. 16.

The Bengals did make one trade on Tuesday, sending Logan Wilson to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a 2026 seventh-round pick. Wilson was benched for rookie Barrett Carter last month.

He'll join a Cowboys defense that's hoping to rebound after adding him and Quinnen Williams at the deadline. Wilson spent his entire six-year career in Cincinnati after they picked him 65th overall in the 2020 NFL Draft. He helped the Bengals get to Super Bowl LVI and win back-to-back AFC North titles in 2021 and 2022.