Bengals Beat: Bengals Show Their Savvy In Signing Trey Hendrickson For 2025, Hendrickson Shows Desire To Get Back On The Field

CINCINNATI – The Bengals did right by Trey Hendrickson and in turn, the Bengals will have their star pass rusher back on the field in time for the season opener against the Cleveland Browns on Sept. 7. They also did right by themselves in letting the Trey Hendrickson drama play out until it was time to close the deal.

Per Albert Breer, the Bengals agreed to give the 30-year-old elite edge rusher a base salary raise of $13 million for 2025 to $29 million. If Hendrickson plays in 60 percent of the team’s defensive snaps this season and the Bengals make the playoffs, he’ll get another $1 million that would raise his pay to $30 million for the upcoming season.

Yes, to get this deal done required a compromise. The Bengals had to be willing to pay Hendrickson much more than he was scheduled to earn and Hendrickson had to be willing to take a one-year bandaid to get on the field with an 81 percent pay hike.

The Bengals showed their willingness to pay the player and Hendrickson showed his desire to end the hold-in and get back on the field and help the team reach its Super Bowl goal.

After agreeing to the deal on Monday, Hendrickson spoke to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com.

“It gives a lot of clarity to the 2025 defense,” Hendrickson told Hobson. “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. And what’s best for the team is the best players playing in their relative positions.”

Hendrickson, who has attended meetings and been on the sidelines during training camp, indicated both sides are open to talking about a deal beyond this season.

“We’re taking one day at a time,” Hendrickson added. “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.

“I love this city and with what’s been happening the last couple of months, I’ve had time to reflect on what it means to me and how much I want to stay a Bengal for the 2025 season.”

The Bengals were smart in several areas with regard to Hendrickson.

They didn’t commit to a two-year contract extension, taking it out to three years in total like the Steelers did with T.J. Watt, who is two months older than Hendrickson. The Steelers inked Watt to a three-year, $123 million extension, with $108 million guaranteed. They let the market settle and then re-assessed their position.

They retain franchise tag rights at the end of this season. Should the Bengals decide that he’s worth keeping another season, this gives the Bengals the option of paying him the franchise fee for 2026 and kick the can down the road or let him go and pursue free agency.

They realized Hendrickson’s elite status in the league and knew they couldn’t pay him $16 million in base salary for the coming year. They are paying him $7 million more than the franchise tag for 2025 at the defensive end position. Hendrickson is now the sixth highest paid edge in terms of average annual value in the NFL, with only Watt ($41 million), Myles Garrett ($40 million), Danielle Hunter ($35.6 million), Maxx Crosby ($35.5 million) and Nick Bosa ($34 million) ahead of him.

They got the deal done before cutdown Tuesday and will have him on the field for six full practices before the season opener on Sept. 7, ensuring that he can mesh in seamlessly with Joseph Ossai, BJ Hill, T.J. Slaton, Kris Jenkins Jr. and Shemar Stewart in practice.

Hendrickson said on May 13 and again on July 30 that he wanted the peace of mind of knowing where he stood going into the season and he wanted a pay raise that was reflective of his status in the league and his production over the last two seasons. He also said he didn’t want to have to kick the can down the road. He got two of the three in Monday’s grand compromise.

This drama was always going to happen once the Bengals decided not to get into the bidding war, trying to match the escalating market. With Garrett, Crosby, Hunter and Watt getting their deals, Hendrickson was left wondering, what about me? And while that’s certainly understandable, the Bengals were savvy.

They used the leverage of knowing that he was already under contract for 2025 thanks to the foresight of the one-year extension they signed him to in 2023. They had his rights, listened to trade offers but in the end they wanted him on their roster. They held the cards and played them right.

They let Hendrickson test the market and likely knew that no team was going to ante up first and second round draft capital for a 30-year-old edge rusher and pay Hendrickson the kind of money he was seeking. The Bengals weren’t about to give him away either. This is where the Bengals excel. They know the value of their own star players and won’t give them away.

The Bengals have often been criticized as cheap but in this case they were smart. They knew all along they were going to give Hendrickson a hefty pay raise for this season. They just weren’t going to overcommit. The Bengals did the right thing for their roster on Monday and they have one of the best pass rushers back on the field as a result.

First Cuts:

Ahead of Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET cutdown deadline, the Bengals cut 11 players who must clear waivers before they can become eligible to return via the practice squad.

–DT McTelvin Agim
–CB Nate Brooks
–WR Cole Burgess
–HB Quali Conley
–S Shaquan Loyal
–WR Rashod Owens
–C Andrew Raym
–CB Lance Robinson
–G Andrew Stueber
–QB Payton Thorne
–LB Craig Young

They also released vested veteran Taven Bryan, a defensive tackle. Bryan is eligible to sign as a free agent wherever he chooses.