Bengals Star Trey Hendrickson's Contract Projection Much Lower Than Expected

Cincinnati will have to make another decision on Hendrickson in the coming months.

Nov 12, 2023; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson (91) runs onto the field before the game against the Houston Texans at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images | Katie Stratman-Imagn Images

CINCINNATI — The contract projections from Pro Football Focus are starting to trickle out for the top projected free agents that could hit the market, and Trey Hendrickson's is way lower than his $29 million 2025 salary.

Hendrickson reworked his Bengals contract last August to play for the team in 2025 and could get franchise tagged again for a projected $34.8 million, but PFF projects him to only make $21 million on a one-year deal ($17 million guaranteed).

"Hendrickson battled injuries throughout the 2025 season but still ranked sixth among all edge defenders in PFF pass-rush grade (90.0). He has now posted five consecutive PFF pass-rush grades above 85.0 and generated 23 total pressures on 177 pass-rush snaps this year," PFF's top free-agent article states.

If the market is that low, then it may not make as much sense to franchise tag Hendrickson again this offseason. The top reason to do that would be to trade him before the draft for a player to be selected in April and use this fall, but a team might not surface as a partner for him at $34.8 fully guaranteed against the salary cap if his best open-market offer was way lower at $21 million.

At that point, beat the best overall contract offer and keep the veteran in Cincinnati, or let him walk out the door and potentially get a compensatory pick in 2027. Keeping him on a way-higher franchise tag than the market palates could be a poor use of salary cap resources.

"That one was contentious," Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin said about the Hendrickson contract saga earlier this offseason."There are a lot of contentious deals. We’re not on an island by ourselves in that kind of stuff. That’s the way of the world. We have to place a value on a player. They’ll place their own value on themselves. We have to come to something that makes sense for both. 

"When I negotiate with a player or agent, I’m not negotiating against that player or agent. I’m negotiating on behalf of the rest of our football team. On behalf of the city of Cincinnati, which wants the best football team it can have. I’m not saying you deserve less, and it’s isolated in a cocoon. I’m trying to preserve as much as I can to do other things that will benefit all of us."

Now, this is just one projection; we will get a much better sense of the star's latest market once the NFL Combine fires upon Feb. 22.

Check out the full projections here. For our breakdown of what the Bengals should do with Trey Hendrickson, go here.

Sign UP For Our DAILY Newsletter for MORE FREE Coverage of the Cincinnati Bengals Delivered to YOU Directly

For more on the Bengals, subscribe to our YouTube Channel and watch the video below as part of our in-depth coverage of the team. Prefer to listen? Check out Cincinnati Bengals Talk on Apple, Spotify, and Amazon Podcasts.

Make sure you bookmark BengalsTalk.com for the latest Bengals news, exclusive interviews, insight, film breakdowns and so much more!

Also, check out the podcast, Locked On Bengals, wherever you get your podcasts.

Apple: bit.ly/BengalsApple

Spotify: bit.ly/BengalsSpotify

YouTube: bit.ly/LOBengalsYouTube

-----

Follow us on X: @BengalsTalkSI

Like Our Facebook Page

Follow on TikTok