Bengals Defensive Star Named Top 100 Player For 2026 NFL Season

Cincinnati could look different on defense this fall.

Sep 14, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; A general view of the helmet of Cincinnati Bengals running back Chase Brown (30) during warmups before the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images | Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

CINCINNATI — Trey Hendrickson just made the cut on Sports Illustrated's top 100 players for the 2026 season. The pending free agent is widely expected to play elsewhere this fall after going through the first injury-impacted season of his career this past fall.

The Bengals star had four sacks and 16 tackles across seven games this season and is ranked 100th on the list from Gilberto Manzano.

"In a list meant to highlight the stars of tomorrow, it’s only fitting that we start with a 31-year-old edge rusher coming off an injury-riddled season (four sacks in seven games)," Manzano wrote. "All jokes aside, Hendrickson will likely have a strong market in free agency, which should tell you plenty about teams’ willingness to overlook his age due to the high-level play that he provides when healthy."

The 2026 defensive end franchise tag number is projected to be about $26.6 million on OverTheCap.com, but that's lower than Hendrickson's $29 million salary this past season, so he will have to sign another extension to stay in Cincinnati or they could tag him again, but it would be 120% of his most recent deal, so they'd have to pay him $34.8 million.

That number would count 100% against the salary cap and may be ill-advised for a player entering their Age-32 season.

Bengals director of player personnel discussed Hendrickson's future earlier this month.

"Yeah, I'm for pass rush. I'm for pass rush. I don't know what the future holds for Trey," Tobin said about the Bengals' best defender. "Those are discussions that we're going to have to have ongoing. He's one of a number of free agents that we have that we'll have to decide how we're going to go forward with. But pass rush is king, and you always need to be layering in pass rushers. It can develop from within your team, and I think we've seen some of that start to develop from within our team. And then I think we need to find some from external sources, as well."

Check out the full 100-51 list from Manzano here.

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