Bengals Star Trey Hendrickson One of Top Free Agents, Beat Out By Two Emerging Players

Hendrickson's injury and age didn't keep him out of the top five. He's scheduled to be a free agent in March.

Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson (91) celebrates as time winds down in the fourth quarter of the NFL Week 1 game between the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. The Bengals begin the season with a 17-16 win over the Browns. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

CINCINNATI — Free agency is quickly approaching in the NFL, with Cincinnati having to make a decision on Trey Hendrickson's future. The currently injured star has missed the most games ever in one season as a Bengal, but he is still Sports Illustrated's third-best 2026 free agent.

Hendrickson has been highly durable before these injuries and amassed 35 sacks across the 2024 and 2023 seasons.

"It will be interesting to see whether teams will look to heavily invest in a talented edge rusher on the wrong side of 30," Gilberto Manzano wrote. "Also, Hendrickson, who will turn 31 this week, hasn’t played since Week 7 due to injuries. But the numbers don’t lie. He’s still a dominant force when healthy. Hendrickson, who has 39 sacks combined the past three seasons, could see a short-term deal from a Super Bowl contender that averages more than $35 million per season. Maybe something similar to what the Texans have done with 31-year-old Danielle Hunter, who’s on his second short-term deal with the team."

It will likely be another offseason on full Hendrickson watch, as the Bengals could still franchise tag him for a top-five average defensive end salary. Still, that handicaps your salary cap heavily in another prime Joe Burrow season. If Myles Murphy keeps ascending, that's a player you draft in anticipation of this transition, but we will see how it all plays out.

Hendrickson is still the team's highest-graded player on Pro Football Focus at 82.9 overall. He's posted a strong 23 pressures in seven games thus far, as fans and the team await his return.

“We’ll just keep taking it week to week,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said on Monday when asked if Hendrickson will play again this season.

Cincinnati may or may not stay in the Hendrickson business this March.

Daniel Jones (1) and George Pickens (2) are the only free agents ranked ahead of Hendrickson on this list. Tyler Linderbaum and Alec Pierce round out the top five.

Check out the full list here.

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