It’s been a busy offseason with a lot of drama and whether you like it or not, the Cincinnati Bengals pulled off something no one thought they could. After signing Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to long-term deals, Trey Hendrickson finally got his bonus.
Hendrickson agreed to a revised contract with the Bengals and he’ll earn a $14 million raise. In other words, he signed a one-year $30 million deal.
With the new deal Hendrickson becomes the 6th highest-paid edge rusher in the NFL. Cincinnati reported on Monday that they would try a “unique” way to put the pen to paper and as it turned out it worked.
Even with the new deal Hendrickson is still set to become a free agent in 2026 and a franchise tag would be pricey, costing $34.8 million. According to Dianna Russini, the Bengals offered Hendrickson a three-year $95 million deal. Why didn’t he sign it? The Bengals only offered one year of guarantees, which could mean Cincinnati had no interest in keeping Hendrickson beyond 2025, according to Paul Dehner Jr.
Hendrickson did not participate in practice all summer, which is raising concern for some people. But fortunately he has been seen on the practice field helping out the younger guys. (Shemar Stewart specifically.)
Over the past four seasons in Cincinnati, Hendrickson generated 57 sacks, 53 tackles for loss, and 11 forced fumbles also recording back-to-back 17.5 sack seasons. The Bengals defense won’t be significantly better by adding Hendrickson alone but he will most definitely help. Last season the reigning sack king recorded a 37.4% pressure rate, the second highest on the team is 9.3%, which was put up by Myles Murphy. Basically Trey Hendrickson had a whopping 28.1% higher pressure rate than any other defensive lineman (Yes, not just edge rushers) on the team. Wow.
Cincinnati’s defense is going to look a lot different this year. The Bengals brought in former Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden to replace Lou Anarumo. The defense is also going to be even younger than last year as well.
“It gives a lot of clarity to the 2025 defense, it gives us a couple of more good practices, and with a great offseason in the books, both personally and as a team, I feel like now we can go collectively play for the 2025 Bengals.” Hendrickson says. “And what’s best for the team is the best players playing in their relative positions.”
Unfortunately it appears that this will be Hendrickson’s last ride in Cincinnati since the two sides couldn’t come to a long-term agreement. This means that they are really betting on Shemar Stewart to have a fantastic career.
“We’re taking one day at a time, moving forward, we’ll figure that out as it goes. For this season, to be given a raise I didn’t necessarily had to have been given, it’s a blessing to be in a position where I’ve been brought up to my peers. And also being able to get after quarterbacks.” Hendrickson said.
