Cincinnati Bengals: Reaching an Agreement With Trey Hendrickson Remains Difficult
The Bengals and star defensive end Trey Hendrickson are still having difficulty finding common ground.
Hendrickson, who has one year remaining on his current deal, wants a significant raise after reaching 17.5 sacks in each of the last two seasons. The Bengals have given Hendrickson permission to seek a trade, but he would prefer to remain in Cincinnati.
Head Coach Zac Taylor was asked about the impasse at the meetings.
“Trey’s been a big part of our team,” Taylor said at the annual league meeting in Florida via Ben Baby of ESPN.com. “We want to work through it with him and his agent. We’ll just see where it goes.”
The Bengals reached offseason agreements with top receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, but their defense struggled in 2024 and losing Hendrickson would present another challenge. Taylor would love to continue building the defensive line around Hendrickson.
“Trey’s got his production,” Taylor said. “Then if you can just build more production from the other three guys as they’re mixed around, that’s a huge point of emphasis for us.”
