Trey Hendrickson's fate had a very clear impact on how the Cincinnati Bengals navigated through free agency

Former Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson signed one of the largest contracts in NFL free agency this year, inking a four-year, $112 million deal with the Baltimore Ravens that can get up to $120 million with incentives.

The base Average Annual Value (AAV) of $28 million per year of Hendrickson's deal is only second behind the $30 million AAV Jaelen Phillips signed for to become the new DE for the Carolina Panthers, but Hendrickson's contract is currently listed ahead of Phillips on OverTheCap's projected 2027 NFL Draft compensatory pick chart.

The Bengals have noted that, and their actions since Hendrickson's deal became official proves it.

Bengals' free agency inactivity is all about receiving a compensatory pick

Signing unrestricted free agents to deals with sizable AAVs (more than $2-3 million) is how clubs impact the compensatory pick system. If a team signs more UFAs of that value than they see depart, they cancel themselves out of receiving any comp picks in next year's draft.

Cincinnati has added just three UFAs, Bryan Cook, Boye Mafe, and Josh Johnson, and only Cook and Mafe have deals large enough to cancel out two of their seven total UFA departures, of which only three as of right now have qualifying AAVs. Jonathan Allen also signed a two-year, $25 million deal with the Bengals, but he was a released veteran and his signing does not count in the formula.

Bengals UFAs lost

• DE Trey Hendrickson to Baltimore Ravens (four years, $112,000,000)
• DE Joseph Ossai to New York Jets (three years, $36,000,000)
• TE Noah Fant to New Orleans Saints (two years, $8,750,000)
• G Cordell Volson to Tennessee Titans (one year, $3,215,000)
• QB Jake Browning to Tampa Bay Buccaneers (one year, $TBA)
• CB Marco Wilson to Miami Dolphins (one year, $TBA)
• S Geno Stone to Buffalo Bills (one year, $TBA)

Three qualifying departures outnumbers two qualifying additions, meaning the Bengals are on track to receiving their comp pick for losing Hendrickson. Cincinnati's final major addition of free agency being a recently-released player does not sound like a coincidence at all according to The Athletic's Paul Dehner Jr.

"That comp pick was a thing, they wanted it," Dehner said on a recent episode of The Growler Podcast. "Anytime we've ever asked about comp picks before, it's always like, 'It's not the factor, it's a factor, it's a data point,' is always what's used a lot about that. I think it was a little bit bigger data point this year because of so much focus on the Trey Hendrickson situation and whether they could tag-and-trade.

"It is clear that they wanted to get that kind of pick out of this," Dehner continued. "And they are currently set up to do so, but getting Jonathan Allen, who was recently released, allows them to keep that clear. They didn't have to go and get anybody that was sitting there on a on a bigger contract, and knock that pick off of their formula. So it seemed that that certainly, certainly was part of their equation this year."

Cincinnati prioritized getting something in return for Hendrickson, even if that something is one of the last Day 2 picks in next year's draft. That's the route it took over adding a qualifying UFA to help the 2026 roster instead.

Any additional signings the Bengals may make before the NFL Draft will follow this route as well. Released players, and minimum contracts won't get in the way of next year's pick, so that's what fans can expect going forward.