Bengals and Trey Hendrickson end complicated contract drama after team decides not to tag franchise

Trey Hendrickson may finally be able to get the long-term contract he’s been seeking since last offseason after the Cincinnati Bengals decided not to use their franchise tag on the star defensive end.

Hendrickson said goodbye to fans after Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET NFL deadline, which marked the end of the ability for teams to place a franchise tag on players.

“To the organization: thank you for the opportunity to play the game I love at the highest level,” he wrote in his Instagram caption. “The last five years have been filled with great victories and tough defeats. Personal achievements and humbling adversities.

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“I was and always will be proud to have worn the Cincinnati Bengals logo and honored the history behind it.”

The Bengals never ruled out the possibility of tagging Hendrickson to try to sign him once again or at least acquire some draft capital by seeking a trade with another team.

But Duke Tobin, the Bengals’ director of player personnel, said at the NFL Scouting Combine last week that the latter option is not as simple as it seems.

“You have to find a partner. You have to cooperate with your players. Trades can be complicated,” Tobin said, according to ESPN.

Hendrickson also would have cost the Bengals $30.2 million if they had put the tag on him for this season. Then, the Bengals and Hendrickson’s complicated contract situation comes to an end, and he will begin looking for a new team.

Last offseason was a different story. The Bengals allowed him to find out what he could bring to the table in a potential trade, an odd request for a player. Hendrickson was the league’s sack leader (17½) in 2024, and was looking to get paid like the NFL’s sack leader.

After the Bengals failed to find a trade partner and negotiations yielded little result, Hendrickson sat out offseason workouts and the start of training camp. But Hendrickson and the Bengals agreed to a $29 million contract for the 2025 season.

But Hendrickson suffered an injury that cost him 10 games and was then placed on injured reserve to repair a core muscle injury.

Hendrickson was one of the league’s most productive edge rushers in Cincinnati, recording 14 sacks in his first Pro Bowl season in 2021 after signing his initial four-year contract with the team.

He previously played for the New Orleans Saints, who selected him in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft out of FAU. Hendrickson had a breakout 2020 campaign with a career-high 13½ sacks, earning him a $60 million contract with the Bengals.

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Hendrickson made four consecutive Pro Bowls and was a first-team All-Pro in 2024 thanks to his sack total. He also recorded 36 quarterback hits, 46 combined tackles and 19 tackles for loss.

In his seven games last season, Hendrickson totaled four sacks and 16 combined tackles with one forced fumble.

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