The dispute will continue for a while, but the Cincinnati Bengals will eventually agree to a contract extension with star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson.
The reigning NFL sack leader skipped the team’s mandatory minicamp last week, reportedly racking up nearly $105,000 in fines. But reports surfaced Sunday that the two sides have reopened talks.
Hendrickson is seeking a long-term extension that would give him a significant raise from his 2025 base salary of $15.8 million.
The Bengals gave Hendrickson permission in March to seek a trade partner, and the veteran later expressed frustration over what he called the team’s lackluster communication in mid-May.
Yet here we are in mid-June, and Hendrickson is still on Cincinnati’s roster.
The Bengals don’t really want to trade him — they just don’t want to pay him top-of-the-market money. One report said Cincinnati’s offer averages about $28 million per season.
That figure feels a little low. Given recent offseason developments, you have to figure the eventual deal will more than double what Hendrickson is set to make this season.
Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns signed a new extension in March worth an average of $40 million per season (four years, $160 million), raising the ceiling for defensive end salaries.
Just days earlier, Maxx Crosby of the Las Vegas Raiders became the highest-paid defensive player of all time when he signed a three-year, $106.5 million deal averaging $35.3 million per season.
So think about this from Hendrickson’s point of view.
He led the NFL with 17.5 sacks last season and finished as runner-up for NFL Defensive Player of the Year — behind Denver Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II and ahead of Garrett. This is the most important contract of Hendrickson’s career, the one that sets him up for life.
He’s also made four straight Pro Bowls, recorded 35 sacks over the past two seasons, and posted 13.5 or more sacks in four of the past five seasons. And he just turned 30.
Yeah, Hendrickson knows it’s his time to cash in.
Overall, there are four defensive ends averaging more than $30 million per season. The others are the Houston Texans’ Danielle Hunter (one year, $35.6 million) and the San Francisco 49ers’ Nick Bosa (five years, $170 million).
The fifth-highest average belongs to the New England Patriots’ Milton Williams, whose four-year, $104 million extension comes out to $26 million annually. So it seems both sides agree that Hendrickson’s new deal needs to be richer than that.
But you can bet all your $100 bills that Cincinnati doesn’t want to approach the Crosby or Bosa levels for Hendrickson.
So get ready for Hendrickson to skip training camp while holding out for a massive payday.
The negotiations could stretch into September and right up to Cincinnati’s season opener on Sept. 7 against Garrett and the Browns.
After all, Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow didn’t sign his extension until three days before the team’s 2023 opener. That five-year, $275 million deal was the richest in NFL history at the time.
Wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase sat out training camp last season before landing his four-year, $161 million extension — the largest ever for an NFL receiver — in March. Fellow wideout Tee Higgins played under the franchise tag the past two seasons before also agreeing to a new four-year, $115 million deal at the same time Chase signed.
Hendrickson has seen the process firsthand. He knows how the Bengals do business.
Cincinnati isn’t known for giving money away. It takes a firm stance from the player and his representatives to get the franchise to budge.
So watch — Hendrickson will eventually sign a rich deal. Probably in September.
