Bengals may have made one major mistake with Hendrickson

Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson. Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Bengals may have made one major mistake with Trey Hendrickson

By Steve DelVecchio | Last updated Aug 18, 2025 8:16 AM ET

The Cincinnati Bengals seem to have accepted that they may not be able to find common ground with Trey Hendrickson, but it is fair to wonder if they cost themselves by not coming to that realization sooner.

Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reported on Sunday that the Bengals have begun listening to trade offers for Hendrickson, who has been seeking a new contract all offseason. The big question is how much Cincinnati is seeking in return and whether teams are willing to meet the asking price.

According to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, the Bengals have been engaged in trade talks centered around Hendrickson for weeks. With teams now having less salary cap space and the 2025 NFL Draft in the books, it sounds like there is not as much interest in Hendrickson now as there was earlier in the offseason.

One source strongly believes that the Bengals could have netted a better draft pick in a Trey Hendrickson trade had they moved him earlier in the spring.

Teams also face potential salary cap obstacles when it comes to paying Hendrickson the deal he wants this late into camp. https://t.co/Krgb1J4DZC
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) August 17, 2025

All indications have been that Hendrickson and the Bengals were never close to a long-term agreement. Hendrickson said at the start of training camp that he was "willing to take less in some ways" on his next contract. The main issue has reportedly been that Cincinnati does not want to offer guaranteed money beyond 2026.

Hendrickson had 35 sacks over the past two seasons, which was the most in the NFL during that span. He had 17.5 sacks each season and finished second in NFL Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2024.

There was never any chance that Hendrickson was going to take a contract that is far below market value. The star defensive end is 30, and his stock has never been higher after the way he produced the last two seasons. Hendrickson is set to make just under $16M in base salary in the final year of his contract this season.

Unless something changed drastically, the Bengals should have known months ago that they were not going to be able to extend Hendrickson. Had they traded him then, it sounds like the return would have been a lot more significant than what is being offered now.

Steve DelVecchio

Steve is a veteran writer who has covered a variety of sports and pop culture topics for more than 15 years. In addition to Yardbarker, his work has been featured on prominent digital publications including Larry Brown Sports, MSN and FOX Sports. The UConn graduate has published more than 40,000 stories and is one of the most experienced trending news writers in the country

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