According to Ian Rapoport, the Bengals have indicated they are not going to franchise veteran DE Trey Hendrickson.
This always made sense as the most likely outcome even though Cincinnati was playing coy the last month. The 31-year-old edge rusher will now test the open market and see what his true value is to other teams.
He’s expected to be the top pass rusher available and one of the best free agents.
Hendrickson held out the whole offseason and into training camp while seeking a long-term deal that he felt fairly reflected his production over the last few years. Ultimately, the two sides compromised on a one-year raise to keep him in Cincinnati for the season.
He picked up a core injury in Week 6 and re-aggravated it when trying to play through it in Week 8. He ultimately wasn’t able to return from the injury.
Hendrickson, 31, was selected with the No. 103 overall pick by the Saints out of Florida Atlantic in 2017. He finished his four-year rookie contract worth $3,106,288, which included a signing bonus of $706,284.
Hendrickson then signed a four-year, $60 million contract with the Bengals back in 2021 and went on to appear in the Super Bowl for the team. Cincinnati signed him to a one-year extension through 2025 in 2023.
He was due a base salary of $15.8 million in the final year of his contract in 2025 when he and the team agreed to a $14 million raise to resolve a holdout.
In 2025, Hendrickson appeared in seven games for the Bengals, recording 16 total tackles, four sacks, one forced fumble and a pass deflection.
We have him included in our Top 100 – 2026 NFL Free Agents.
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