Defensive end Trey Hendrickson was looking for a long-term deal with the Bengals for the last couple of years, but never got the contract he desired before playing out the final year of his current pact in 2025.
There’s no sign that the Bengals and Hendrickson have made progress toward a multi-year agreement and the team is keeping the door open to extending their hold on Hendrickson via the franchise tag this offseason. Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin said at a Tuesday press conference that the prospect of the team using a tag on Hendrickson, who ended the season on injured reserve after core muscle surgery, is “not something I’m gonna talk about.”
“I don’t throw anything on or off the table with Trey, and we’re excited about attacking this offseason,” Tobin said, via Ben Baby of ESPN.com. “We have resources to attack the offseason in a big way, and we want to do that.”
A tag would come with a salary of $30.2 million for the 2026 season and Tobin was asked about the prospect of tagging Hendrickson with the intent to trade him to another club.
“All trades are difficult,” Tobin said. “You got to find a partner and you have to find somebody that you have to have some cooperation with your players that you’re talking about this with. Trades can be complicated and that hypothetical scenario would be very complicated.”
Hendrickson has been with the Bengals since 2021. He posted 57 sacks in his first four seasons before notching four in his seven 2025 appearances.
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