4:55pm: The Bengals have been fielding calls on Hendrickson for weeks, Dehner and colleague Dianna Russini report. The price of any swap worked out in August will no doubt differ from one agreed to during the spring, so it will be interesting to see how this situation unfolds.
12:20pm: Contract talks between the Bengals and defensive end Trey Hendrickson are at an impasse, per Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network. As such, the club is again listening to trade offers for its star pass rusher. 
NFL insider Jordan Schultz says the Panthers, Browns, and Colts are among the clubs that have expressed interest. Of course, an intra-division trade to Cleveland for a player of Hendrickson’s magnitude is unlikely, and Cincinnati is still setting a high asking price in trade talks. Per Schultz, the Bengals are seeking an impact player or two as well as a draft pick. A mutual interest still exists for this team-player relationship to continue, Schultz adds, but the same issues (namely guaranteed money) continue to represent a sticking point in negotiations.
The Bengals’ offense was excellent in 2024, with quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase both submitting MVP-caliber performances. Chase and running mate Tee Higgins were re-signed this offseason, and the team also returns promising running back Chase Brown, so points should not be terribly difficult to come by.
However, the team’s woeful defense undermined the efforts of Burrow & Co., and Cincinnati ultimately failed to qualify for the postseason. That is despite the presence of Hendrickson, who recorded 17.5 sacks for the second year in a row and who earned First Team All-Pro acclaim. Given that continued elite production and the upward movement of the EDGE market, any new Bengals accord will include a substantial raise if one can indeed be worked out before Week 1.
The Bengals did add a potential impact pass rusher, Shemar Stewart, in the first round of April’s draft, and Stewart is now in the fold after unusual contract talks of his own became a basis for criticism directed at the organization. Still, it is unclear whether Cincinnati did enough this offseason to significantly improve its defense, and subtracting Hendrickson from the equation would seem to make matters more difficult for new defensive coordinator Al Golden.
As such, Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer is skeptical that the Bengals are serious about moving Hendrickson, and Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic does not believe the situation has changed. He does not think the club, through today’s reports, is trying to drum up trade interest, and he continues to believe it is unlikely a rival team will meet Cincinnati’s asking price and pony up a massive extension for Hendrickson.
As things stand, the 30-year-old is owed $16MM in 2025, the final year of his pact. Hendrickson has stated a willingness to sit out regular season games in the absence of an extension. Time remains for an agreement to be reached, but before authorizing any major raise the Bengals will once again field trade offers. It will be interesting to see if the timing of this development brings about a different outcome on that front compared to earlier in the offseason.
Adam La Rose contributed to this post.
That’s too bad. Heck of football player 🏈
Good for him. He needs to get the hell out of that awful franchise.
Holding out into the season doesn’t work well. Ask Leveon Bell how it went for his career.
Truth is that the Bengals already iffy defense will be screwed without him.
Didn’t do so well last year with him
Bell was a running back the Steelers had worked into the ground at a time when the league was starting to devalue backs. That’s a little different.
Le’Veon Bell only made $16MM over his entire career in Pittsburgh, including on the franchise tag. He made almost $30MM after holding out.
Yes, he physically was never close to earlier in his career, but if his production had fallen off a cliff the year he held out, he likely wouldn’t have come close to making another $10MM after that season, let alone the $30MM that he banked from the Jets contract.
And like Oooof said, the Steelers had already run him into the ground by that point. He probably knew it, or at least his agent did.
“Ask Leveon Bell how it went for his career.”
He made a ton of money and much, much more than he would have if he never held out. It went *great* for Bell’s career.
Players can’t even hold out like that anymore under the new CBA.
Come on colts , get him
Colts are too unlikely to contend this year and too likely to want to position themselves for a QB next year to trade much in the way of picks for a 30 year old who wants a new contract.
Doubt he’s fetching a first rounder, but the only reason the Colts are probably on the list is because his old DC is there.
2 impact players and a draft pick? Bengals may get 1 starting player and a 2nd round pick but it’s not gonna be an impact player unless I have a different definition of the word impact
Commanders and patriots make most sense and they have the cash too
Commanders are already missing a second and a fourth next year. At some point they have to stop trading picks or they’re going to run into serious roster building/cap problems.
You can trade more than picks though. And Trey can be released too
What would they realistically trade for Hendrickson that wouldn’t create new holes? Part of the problem with them missing picks is that they also have an old roster with a ton of upcoming free agents.
A third and fifth and maybe Brian Robinson Jr?
Can’t imagine the Bengals would take that. They need Robinson less than Washington does. And again, I think Washington is in a bad place to be trading away more draft picks. They’re an old team facing a lot of roster turnover next year already down a couple of picks.
Patriots then? Also bears
I think the Bears have spent too much on Sweat and Odeyingbo to commit that much to another edge rusher, even if passing downs with all three would be fun. New England I guess could make sense. They have so much money even if they’re not ready to contend. If Gutenkust weren’t so opposed to players over 30, I’d be intrigued by a deal involving a pick or two and one of the Packers’ young defensive front players.
Ultimately I think this gets done in Cincinnati.
If it gets done it’s taking forever.
This whole thing should have been done ages ago. If they were going to trade him, the time was not the back half of August.
It’s the Bengals. It’s a horribly run franchise.
No one plays with their food like the Bengals. Except maybe the Cowboys.
Bengals love playing with their good. Look at Chase and Stewart and Hendrickson lol
I don’t know if it would be wise for the Pats to trade assets for Hendrickson. They’re too far away from being a contender. imo, Hendrickson works best on an already good team looking to bolster a contending window.
Commanders aren’t paying McLaurin for this same reason, he’s already 30. They’re definitely not about to trade assets fora 30 year old DE and give him the bag either.
I’m still guessing they get this done. Bengals would be kneecapping their defense when they’re trying to compete now and they would be getting a worse trade return than they would have gotten earlier in the offseason when more teams were in position to bid. And for all his digging in, I doubt Hendrickson would want to sit out more than a game or three.
You mean to tell me he never warmed up to the contract without guarantees? Weird…
Shocker
An impact player or 2 plus a draft pick for a 30 year old DE demanding top of the market money…. Like I understand you have to set the asking price high but that price has me wondering if everyone in the Bengals management is high.
That ask literally seems like something that would happen in a fantasy league. We’ve all had people ask for this sort of thing over the years and we just ignore that guy as a result.
Ask Al Harris and Todd Bell how that work out in 1985
You can’t draw a parallel with their situation to now. That was a very different world back then for NFL players. Hell, that was before free agency.
Please send him to Cleveland.
First team to offer a decent offensive line Guard gets him.
Bengals screwed this up from the start. If they were really unwilling to budge on any of this guy’s demands, they should have traded him months ago. Now, they either won’t have Hendrickson because he’s holding out, or they’ll trade him for less than they could have received earlier. Classic Bengals.
That ship has sailed no way u get two impact players and a pick give that up and pay him? No way.honestly a 2nd rounder and fillers if that
Wouldn’t mind him in Tampa. Bucs don’t have the space for him without trading some money back. Maybe Goodwin and a couple of picks would work?
Last thing Bengals need back is a WR when they already have Chase and Higgins. Their depth behind those 2 isn’t ideal but they need O-Line and help at all levels on defense
They couldn’t and wouldn’t trade Godwin right after signing that deal and the Bengals wouldn’t take him on.
The Browns even being on that list is proof positive that sound decisions aren’t being made in that franchise. This is something the Bills should be in on because they’re not going to beat the Chiefs with that pass rush they currently have. At the right price of course.
Bengals need no offensive help. From reports, they’ve offered Hendrickson $30mil a year, but no guarantees, which I’m ok with as a Bengals fan. He’s getting long in the tooth, and as we Cincy fans have become accustomed to, he gets a guaranteed contract and gets hurt, well we are screwed for X amount of season of paying a dude riding the pine. As someone said, the defense sucked with him last season and if he’s not here this season, we have Ossai and Stewart to play. At this point, and I’m a Hendrickson guy with a jersey, I say trade him for a 1st and 2 2nds and be done. Spend the money elsewhere. It’s not worth the hassle at this point.
No way you get that kind of haul for him, especially not at this time in the year. Ossai isn’t filling those shoes and expecting to keep Hendrickson without meaningful guarantees past the first year is silly.