A very public back and forth.
Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson wants a raise and long-term security as he heads in to the final season of his contract. After a league-leading 17.5 sacks in 2024 and the explosion of the edge rusher market, Hendrickson is currently very underpaid.
It appears Hendrickson would like to be paid near the top of the market for pass rushers, but he isn’t out to top Myles Garret’s $40 million per year contract, either.
Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team provided a bit more detail on the ongoing negotiations between the two sides.
Katie Blackburn spoke at the owner’s meetings this week and said that Hendrickson “should be happy at certain rates that maybe he doesn’t think he’d be happy at,” which resulted in Hendrickson appearing on The Pat McAfee Show the next day to tell his side of the story.
Hendrickson stated that he has been seeking long-term security and guaranteed money for three years. He did sign an extension in 2023 but has outperformed that deal. As he heads in to the final season of his contract, he is looking to know where he will play beyond 2025.
Meirov spoke about what Hendrickson is looking for:
“Trey is not looking to become the highest-paid pass rusher ever or highest-paid-non-quarterback,” Meirov said. ”He just wants to be fairly compensated. I think that the $32-to-33-to-34 million per year range…maybe $35 million is kind of where he’s looking at.
“Then there’s the structure, and he doesn’t want to do a one-year deal. He doesn’t want to do a multi-year deal where there are incentives he has to reach to make his money. He wants it to be a true extension.”
After granting Hendrickson permission to seek a trade, no other teams have been able to meet the Bengals’ asking price, and since then, Hendrickson says communication has been “poor.”
There really isn’t a deadline for the two sides to meet, so this could drag all the way in to training camp if the two sides can’t come to an agreement. Hendrickson has not said he wants to leave Cincinnati. In fact, he has said quite the opposite.
Of course, for that to happen, the Bengals need to make him an offer he’s willing to accept.