The Cincinnati Bengals did it. Sort of. After a long, strange contract dispute, the Bengals agreed to a new deal with Trey Hendrickson. The team appeared deeply uninterested in committing to the veteran defender during a saga that lasted over a year. And somehow Cincinnati managed to end the lengthy standoff without actually committing to Hendrickson.
The four-time Pro Bowler refused to play out the final year of his contract at his original $16 million salary. The Bengals refused to offer an extension with guaranteed money beyond 2025. And as each side waited for the other to blink, the regular season was rapidly approaching.
Multiple extension offers were rejected due to a lack of guaranteed cash. Two separate attempts to trade the defender failed because of the exorbitant asking price. A hold-out turned into a hold-in while Hendrickson missed all of training camp and the preseason.
Finally, with the regular season opener less than two weeks away, the Bengals and Hendrickson agreed to a one-year restructure for $30 million. Hendrickson got a $14 million raise for the 2025 season with the new deal. But he didn’t get the long-term security he was seeking. The Bengals were forced to dig deeper into their pockets than they wanted. But they avoided signing their fourth mega extension in the last two years.
The Burrow effect
It seemed as if the Bengals had botched the Hendrickson situation, as the team was unwilling to re-sign or trade the star pass rusher. Despite leading the league with 17.5 sacks last season and earning first-team All-Pro honors, Cincinnati appeared comfortable letting Hendrickson sit out.
But when Joe Burrow speaks, the Bengals (eventually) listen. The Pro Bowl passer led Cincinnati to its first Super Bowl appearance since 1988 in his second NFL season. The following year the Bengals again reached the AFC Championship Game. But despite Burrow’s MVP-caliber season in 2024, the team has now missed the playoffs each of the last two years.
Burrow badly wants to end that streak in 2025 and he’s been active in ensuring the team has the talent for a return to the postseason.
The fifth-year quarterback was reportedly instrumental in the effort to re-sign Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. No small feat with a franchise that’s notoriously tight with its purse strings. While he offered public support, Burrow privately pressured the Bengals into inking the wideouts to historic extensions.
The Bengals got the band back together, retaining the core of the NFL’s top passing attack in 2024. But that was only half the battle. The offense was electric last season while the defense lagged behind.
And now the team was facing the prospect of attempting to bounce back in a crowded conference without its best defensive player.
But Burrow remained confident. After the team’s second preseason game, the quarterback hinted at a positive end to Hendrickson’s contract saga. “I think historically these deals with us have gotten done closer to Week 1. I signed the Thursday before the first game [in 2023], I think historically the way we’ve done business tends to pick up the next two weeks,” Burrow said.
One week later, Hendrickson has a new contract that will get him back on the field. And you can bet that Burrow was once again working behind the scenes.
Bengals can’t shed “cheap” label
The Bengals had the 25th-ranked overall defense in football last season. But Hendrickson should be viewed as part of the solution, not the problem. The 30-year-old DE finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2024. He’s racked up 57 sacks and made the Pro Bowl each season since signing with the Bengals in 2021.
But his performance didn’t motivate Cincinnati to offer a long-term extension with the guaranteed money Hendrickson was hoping for. Instead, both sides compromised with the one-year restructure.
The Bengals had made strides in shedding the “cheap” label that has followed the franchise for years. And the team does now have a top-four quarterback, two top-eight receivers and a top-six edge rusher by average annual salary, per Spotrac.
But Cincy still fought with first-round draft pick Shemar Stewart over guaranteed money in his rookie contract. And the team went to the brink with its best defensive player, essentially offering him a $14 million extension.
However, the Bengals did succeed in retaining Hendrickson’s services for the 2025 season. They didn’t relent on a multi-year guaranteed deal and they kept their quarterback and fanbase happy.
Bengals Grade: B
Hendrickson’s dilemma
Hendrickson on the other hand, can’t be thrilled with this outcome. Sure, he’s probably happy to put the drama behind him and focus on football. But coming off the best season of his career, he was looking to cash in and attain long-term security.
Yes, he’s now getting paid closer to what his production warrants for this season. But he’s still playing in the final year of his contract. He’ll be a free agent after 2025, looking for a long-term commitment entering his age-31 season. That could be a hard sell for many teams. And if his production happens to dip in 2025, it could cost him a fortune.
However, Hendrickson was between a rock and a hard place. The Bengals were not going to trade him with the asking price of a young defensive player and a 2026 first-round pick. And he drew a line in the sand, refusing to play under his original contract. So it was either sit out all season or accept the best deal he could get from Cincinnati. He did get a raise. And in the best-case scenario, he balls out this season and signs a big-money deal elsewhere in 2026. Either way, he did what he had to do.
Hendrickson Grade: C+
