Practically every year, there is a contract negotiation that becomes more contentious than the other discussions about new deals. The situation between the Cincinnati Bengals and edge rusher Trey Hendrickson is on track to be 2025’s most bitter contract dispute.
Hendrickson has been adamant that he won’t play for the Bengals in 2025 under his current contract. The 2024 first-team All-Pro who led the NFL in sacks last season is in a contract year. He is scheduled to make $16 million in 2025 on an $18,666,668 cap number.
Hendrickson hasn’t attended Cincinnati’s voluntary offseason workouts because he hasn’t gotten a new deal. He is skipping Cincinnati’s three-day mandatory minicamp currently being held this week. Hendrickson is subjecting himself to a $104,768 fine by missing all three days. The Bengals reportedly reached out to Hendrickson’s camp before the start of minicamp, which was the first dialogue between the parties in several weeks, without any progress being made.
Hendrickson’s reason for frustration
Hendrickson’s dissatisfaction with his contract is well-known. He was given a one-year contract extension worth $21 million in July 2023 at the start of training camp, although he had two years remaining on his deal because he had outperformed the four-year, $60 million contract signed in 2021 free agency to join the Bengals.
Hendrickson made a trade request last offseason since the Bengals weren’t going to address his contract for a second straight year. He gave the Bengals a pay-me-or-trade-me ultimatum at the beginning of this offseason.
Hendrickson got permission to seek a trade in early March. The Bengals were reportedly looking for more than a first-round pick in return for Hendrickson prior to the 2025 NFL Draft in late April.
Hendrickson’s ability to shop himself to other teams coincided with the escalation of the edge rusher market. It came one day after the Las Vegas Raiders signed Maxx Crosby to a three-year, $106.5 million extension averaging $35.5 million per year to top the edge rusher pay scale.
The ink was barely dry on Crosby’s deal when Myles Garrett, a perennial first-team All-Pro, became the NFL’s first $40 million-per-year non-quarterback less than a week later. The 2023 NFL Defensive Player of the Year signed a four-year, $160 million extension. Garrett’s deal has non-quarterback records of $123,596,125 in overall guarantees and $88.8 million fully guaranteed at signing.
Shortly thereafter, Danielle Hunter also benefitted from the changing edge rusher salary landscape. The Houston Texans extended the two-year, $49 million contract (worth to $51 million through incentives) he signed in 2024 free agency by one year for $35.6 million to keep him in the fold through the 2026 season.
Bengals executive vice president made some curious comments at the NFL’s annual league meeting in late March essentially putting the onus on the Hendrickson to be happy with what had been offered. Subsequent reports have the Bengals’ offer in the $28 million-per-year neighborhood.
It is a bit contradictory to have such a high price to part ways with Hendrickson yet balk at paying the going rate for a pass rusher of his caliber. Hendrickson said last month that he wasn’t going to apologize for how much top edge rushers are getting paid.
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What Hendrickson is worth
To put Cincinnati’s reported offer in better context, $28 million per year is comparable with the four-year extension edge rusher T.J. Watt received from the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2021 to become the NFL’s highest-paid non-quarterback. Watt is in a contract year, like Hendrickson, and also missing mandatory minicamp while seeking a new deal.
Hendrickson has a right to be frustrated. He also deserves some blame for his predicament. The band-aid approach with the one-year extension is backfiring. Without the extension, Hendrickson’s contract would have expired after the 2024 season. He likely would have been headed to free agency this past March with wide receiver Tee Higgins seemingly destined for a second franchise tag at $26,179,200. Hendrickson probably would have been one of the most-coveted players available on the open market coming off an NFL Defensive Player of the Year runner-up season.
Based on production, Hendrickson can make a case to be the NFL’s highest-paid edge rusher. In addition to a league-high 17.5 sacks in 2024, Hendrickson’s 83 quarterback pressures (combined quarterback sacks, quarterback hits and quarterback hurries) tied for the NFL lead with Garrett, according to Pro Football Focus. Hendrickson is the fourth player in NFL history to ever have consecutive seasons with 17.5 or more sacks. The others are Mark Gastineau, Reggie White and J.J. Watt.
Hendrickson isn’t showing any signs of slowing down, even though he will be 31 years old in early December. His 35 sacks over the last two seasons are easily the NFL’s most during this span. Hendrickson’s 83 quarterback pressures last season were a career high. His previous best mark of 79 was posted during the 2023 season.
Collectively, Crosby, Garrett and Hunter, who are currently driving the edge market escalation, have signed extensions with $302.1 million of new money for eight new contract years. These deals average $37,762,500 per year. Hendrickson would be justified in wanting to be paid accordingly.
The Bengals haven’t shown any inclination to put Hendrickson in this salary stratosphere. Cincinnati really shouldn’t have an issue with paying Hendrickson slightly more than Hunter, who turns 31 at the end of October, considering their relative performance. Hunter had 12.0 sacks to tie for the NFL’s fifth-most in 2024. His 66 quarterback pressures were tied for ninth in the league last season, according to PFF. Hunter has 28.5 sacks over the last two seasons, which are 6.5 fewer than Hendrickson has over this span.
The Bengals may not be comfortable extending Hendrickson’s contract more than two years because of his age. And becoming another exception with the traditional salary guarantees that were only reserved for Pro Bowl quarterback Joe Burrow on a veteran contract before Ja’Marr Chase‘ and Higgins’ deals will likely be equally problematic to Cincinnati.
Interestingly, Garrett turns 30 at the end of December. He will be 35 when his contract expires after the 2030 season. Given how Garrett’s contract is structured, the Browns will have a difficult time getting out of the deal until 2029 at the earliest.
Hendrickson ability to play the run has been criticized, but edge rushers are a paid a premium for putting consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks, which Hendrickson does.
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Why the Bengals should act now
The Bengals should be looking to get ahead of any additional changes with pass rushers that are foreseeable. The edge rusher market should continue to escalate before the regular season starts in September thanks to Micah Parsons and Watt. It’s just a matter of time before the Cowboys pay Parsons at the top of the market. Aidan Hutchinson getting a contract extension from the Detroit Lions is also a possibility.
A strong deal by Watt, in particular, will complicate matters between Hendrickson and the Bengals. There is about a two-month age gap with Hendrickson, as Watt turns 31 in October.
The expectation is Watt’s deal will get done. If Watt’s 2021 negotiations are any indication, he will reset the pass rusher market again or come close to it. This would put Watt in the $40 million-per-year neighborhood.
Hendrickson has been more productive than Watt over the last two years. Watt’s 30.5 sacks during the 2023 and 2024 seasons trail only Hendrickson’s 35. His 139 quarterback pressures are 23 fewer than Hendrickson’s 162 since the start of the 2023 season. Watt has two seasons with more sacks than Hendrickson’s 17.5 career high. The three-time NFL sack leader had 19 sacks in 2023. Watt tied the NFL single-season sack record with 22.5 in 2021.
Burrow wasn’t shy about using his platform to advocate for his wide receivers, Chase and Higgins, to be signed long-term during the early part of the offseason. He hasn’t put his thumb on the scale for Hendrickson like he did with his wide receivers. Burrow’s support has been more measured with Hendrickson.
Surprisingly, first-round pick Shemar Stewart, who is having his own contract dispute with the Bengals over contract language, has made the type of statement Hendrickson would surely want Burrow to make on his behalf. He said the Bengals are more interested in winning arguments than football games.
Hendrickson’s importance to Cincinnati’s success shouldn’t be minimized. There has been a dramatic difference in the defense with and without Hendrickson over the last two seasons. According to Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analysis, the Bengals have allowed the NFL’s highest completion percentage (69%) and passer rating (106.2) while having the league’s lowest pressure rate (25%) in the 294 dropbacks when Hendrickson wasn’t on the field. The Bengals rank 11th in completion percentage (64%), eighth in passer rating (86.9) and 12th in pressure rate (35%) in the 909 dropbacks with Hendrickson on the field.
Hendrickson is Cincinnati’s pass rush. He accounted for 48.6% of the Bengals’ sacks last season. By contrast, Garrett, Hunter and Watt were responsible for 34.1%, 19% and 28.8% of Cleveland, Houston and Pittsburgh’s respective sacks in 2024.
How long would Hendrickson sit out?
Hendrickson’s threat to sit out unless he gets a new deal should be taken with a grain of salt. It’s easy to talk tough in June when there aren’t any significant financial ramifications.
Teams are required to fine players who aren’t on rookie contracts $50,000 per day for training camp absences. For NFL collective bargaining agreement fining purposes, training camp runs from the mandatory reporting date in July through the Sunday before the first regular season game (Aug. 31). That would be a little over $2 million for missing all of training camp.
Even if Hendrickson has extreme conviction, it’s highly unlikely he would sit out the entire season. It would be counterproductive contractually. The Bengals would likely have Hendrickson’s contract tolled for a full year under the extension provisions in paragraph 16 of the standard NFL player contract thanks to an arbitration decision relating to wide receiver Joey Galloway’s 101-day holdout with the Seattle Seahawks in 1999. This would mean Hendrickson’s deal wouldn’t expire until after the 2026 season instead of the 2025 season. Hendrickson would probably return to the Bengals around the Nov. 4 trade deadline, similar to Haason Reddick last year with his ill-conceived 90-day holdout.
Reddick should serve as a cautionary tale for Hendrickson. He was a major disappointment after coming back last season. Reddick had one sack in the 10 games he played with the New York Jets after ending his holdout. He was coming off four straight seasons with double digit sacks prior to withholding his services.
Reddick, who turns 31 in September, had a soft free agent market. Instead of getting a big payday, which would have been likely with a 2024 like his previous four seasons, he signed a one-year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for $14 million.
A franchise tag in 2026 wouldn’t out of the question for Hendrickson if he plays out his contract. Hendrickson’s tag number will be less than the $26,179,200 it cost the Bengals with Higgins this year.
The 2026 non-exclusive franchise tag for defensive end projects to 7.925% of the 2026 salary cap. It’s 7.902% in 2025. If the 2026 salary cap is set at $302.5 million, an 8.35% increase over 2025’s $279.2 million salary cap, the defensive end figure should be $23.974 million.
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What’s next?
Hopefully, both sides will be able to find common ground before training camp starts in the latter part of July. The first thing the Bengals have to do is give Hendrickson something to think about with an offer — and not anything that’s in the same vicinity as Watt’s soon-to-be obsolete deal. No seasoned agent would view the Bengals continuing to insist Hendrickson is worth the contract Watt signed in 2021 as operating in good faith.
An offer Hendrickson would at least give more than a second thought about turning down rather than immediately dismissing may need to be comparable to the $34 million average yearly salary Nick Bosa received from the San Francisco 49ers right before the start of the 2023 regular season to become the NFL’s highest-paid non-quarterback.
This doesn’t mean commensurate guarantees or contract length. Bosa’s five-year extension had $122.5 million in overall guarantees with $88 million fully guaranteed at signing, which were both records for a non-quarterback. He was 25 when he signed his contract. Making Hendrickson think twice could result in him being more flexible with most major aspects of the deal than the Bengals have anticipated given his stated preference has been to remain in Cincinnati.
The likelihood of a lose-lose situation for both sides probably increases with a new Watt deal entering the marketplace before an agreement can be reached. That should be the last thing anybody connected with the Bengals should want.
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