Have Bengals made final Trey Hendrickson franchise-tag decision?

As recently as Monday, ESPN's Ben Baby shared that the Cincinnati Bengals using the franchise tag to retain the rights of pass-rusher Trey Hendrickson was not "a viable option" for the club. 

It sounds like Bengals director of player personnel/de facto general manager Duke Tobin isn't in a hurry to make a final call about Hendrickson's status just yet. 

Possible timeline for Bengals' Trey Hendrickson decision revealed

"Nothing is off the table as of Feb. 16," Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer said about the Bengals-Hendrickson relationship on Tuesday. "Cincinnati is not expected to make any decision on Hendrickson’s future before the NFL combine in Indianapolis next week." 

The window for teams to use their franchise tags opened on Tuesday and closes at 4 p.m. ET on March 3. 

"The Bengals will use the week in Indianapolis to gather information from other teams on their potential interest in Hendrickson," Conway continued. "From there, Cincinnati’s front office will have a better understanding of where things stand on the Hendrickson front." 

Last summer, the Bengals and Hendrickson agreed to a revised deal that gave him a raise for the 2025 season and kept him in the final year of his contract. The 31-year-old then tallied four sacks over seven games until he needed core surgery in December. 

Why Bengals may be torn on tagging Trey Hendrickson

One report from earlier in February mentioned that the Bengals could use the franchise tag on Hendrickson in order to receive draft-pick compensation from a different club via a trade. According to Conway, one "high-ranking NFL personnel executive for another team" feels Hendrickson wouldn't be worth more than "a third-round pick." 

Meanwhile, the franchise tag for Hendrickson is set to be worth roughly $30.2M for the 2026 season.  

"If they can’t find a trade partner," Conway wrote about the Bengals, "they will have to decide if it’s time to move on and let [Hendrickson] become a free agent with the hope they get a compensatory pick in return or place the tag on him and force him to play one more season understanding the risk associated with the latter decision."

Such a decision may not be finalized before the afternoon of March 3.