The 2025 season has been a disaster for the Cincinnati Bengals. Everything went off the rails when Joe Burrow went down with his turf toe injury. Now the Bengals are 4-9 are seemingly have no hope of making the playoffs. The loss of Trey Hendrickson puts an exclamation point on Cincinnati's awful season.
Hendrickson had core muscle surgery on Tuesday morning, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. His season is officially over, as he'll need roughly six weeks to get healthy.
The star edge rusher did not play in Week 14 because of a hip injury.
Hendrickson visited Dr. William Meyers at Philadelphia's Vincera Institute on Monday as he weighed his options. It was well understood that surgery would end his season, if he decided to have it.
The last time Hendrickson played for the Bengals was in Week 8 against the Jets. He only managed 17 total tackles with four sacks and one forced fumble in seven games this season. It was a colossal regression after putting up back-to-back 17.5-sack seasons.
Hendrickson's disappointing season comes after a lengthy offseason dispute with Cincinnati over his contract. The Bengals ended up giving Hendrickson a $14 million raise on his existing contract.
Now Hendrickson's future with the Bengals is an open question.
The 31-year-old edge rusher is on an expiring contract and will be a free agent this spring. That is, unless the Bengals franchise tag him or convince him to sign a long-term extension.
Cincinnati is projected to have roughly $69 million in cap space this offseason, so keeping Hendrickson is within the realm of possibility.
It will be fascinating to see what the future holds for Hendrickson.
As for the Bengals, they need to play out the regular season. Hopefully they can build some momentum that can carry over into next season.
Next up for the Bengals is a Week 15 matchup against the Ravens.
