For months, Trey Hendrickson sought a true extension that would provide guarantees beyond Year 1. Excluding Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase, such contracts are not part of the Bengals’ blueprint. The team ended up not budging on that stance, but a compromise emerged late to bring its top defender back into the fold.

Cincinnati agreed to a one-year bump with Hendrickson, who secured a $14MM raise for 2025. The deal also includes a $1MM incentive that could bump the standout defensive end’s earnings to $30MM this year. If Hendrickson plays 60% of the Bengals’ defensive snaps and the team books a playoff berth, that $1MM bump would trigger, per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.

Hendrickson, 30, logged 73% defensive snap share in 2024 and 68% of the team’s plays in 2023. The contract also includes a void year, according to ESPN.com’s Field Yates, who adds Hendrickson’s cap number increased by $3MM. The ninth-year veteran now counts $21.67MM on the Bengals’ cap sheet. Not known for much void year-related cap manipulation, the Bengals would be tagged with a $10MM dead money hit if they do not re-sign Hendrickson before the 2026 league year.

The Bengals held firm on not offering a post-Year 1 guarantee to Hendrickson. Cincy is one of the few teams that as a rule avoids this contract structure; its pricey Tee Higgins extension did not stray from it, even while the Chase deal did. Hendrickson is believed to have turned down a three-year, $95MM extension that did not include guarantees beyond Year 1. This proposal was backloaded, with The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. indicating Hendrickson was due $23MM in 2026 and $39MM in 2027

As for Hendrickson’s current deal, the NFL’s reigning sack leader said (via ESPN.com’s Ben Baby) the team did not communicate an aim at a 2025 raise until the eve of training camp. Hendrickson added he did not receive the offer he eventually agreed to was not previously offered during the lengthy negotiation. Although Hendrickson said he was “incredibly humbled” by the team’s raise, turning down the above-referenced extension offer sets up an interesting next chapter in this long-running saga.

While the Bengals have some younger defensive ends they will hope can show long-term potential (in Shemar Stewart and Myles Murphy, the latter not justifying his first-round slot yet), they could circle back to Hendrickson via a 2026 franchise tag. It would be a costly tag, at approximately $34.8MM, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. No team has ever tagged a non-quarterback at that rate, but if Hendrickson delivers another big year, it would certainly be a conversation — even in a potential tag-and-trade scenario. Dehner points to this relationship ending with a 2026 free agency departure, which could lead to a third-round 2027 compensatory pick.

The Bengals certainly made a good bet on Hendrickson back in 2021, when the late-blooming Saints draftee agreed to a four-year, $60MM deal. Far outplaying that contract, Hendrickson — after a one-year, $21MM extension in 2023 — failed in convincing the Bengals to break their non-superstar precedent for future guarantees. The All-Pro pass rusher will attempt to remain in top form ahead of his 31st birthday en route to a high-end deal in 2026.

One of the NFL’s top remaining contract sagas came to an end earlier today with Terry McLaurin and the Commanders reaching an extension agreement. No such deal is imminent in Trey Hendrickson‘s case, but efforts to work one out are again underway.

Negotiations between the Bengals and Hendrickson’s camp have resumed, NFL insider Jordan Schultz reports. As of last weekend, a continued lack of traction in extension talks led to a new round of trade calls coming in. A swap would come as a surprise this late in the offseason, of course, so attention is still aimed at the ability of both parties to reach at least a short-term compromise.

With guarantees beyond Year 1 of any long-term extension remaining a sticking point from Cincinnati’s perspective, a “unique” arrangement could be in store. Per Schultz, discussions have taken place about a raise covering 2025 which would still allow for Hendrickson to reach free agency next spring. As things stand, the reigning sack leader is owed $16MM on the final year of his pact.

In 2023, Hendrickson agreed to a bump in pay which came about with one new year being added to his pact. That arrangement has been followed by multiple unsuccessful attempts to secure a long-term accord, however, and last offseason the Bengals rejected efforts to seek out a trade. That stance shifted in 2025, with conflicting reports emerging last week about whether or not the team’s trade price has been lowered recently. The Patriots have been named as a team to watch on that front, although New England is not believed to be actively pursuing a deal.

The length and total value of a new pact has long been agreed to between Hendrickson and the Bengals. Cincinnati appears willing to move near the top of the EDGE market in terms of AAV to keep the 30-year-old in the fold. Locked-in compensation has been the source of a lengthy stalemate, with the team not looking to break with organizational precedent (as it did with Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase) by guaranteeing money past the first year.

With that stance in mind, a top-up for 2025 which does not include any new term could be feasible. Coming off his fourth straight Pro Bowl campaign – and first as an All-Pro performer – Hendrickson could set himself up for a considerable payday on the open market next spring with another productive season. A short-term agreement would also likely be sufficient to end his hold-in and ensure the threat of missed regular season games does not come to pass.

There’s been plenty of analysis on the stalemate between the Bengals and star edge rusher Trey Hendrickson. We’ve continually heard that the main holdup between the two sides revolves around guarantees, and that still appears to be the case. However, when it comes to average annual value, it sounds like the Bengals are willing to make Hendrickson one of the highest-paid players at his position.

[RELATED: Trey Hendrickson Not Seeing Bengals Talks Shift]

According to Albert Breer of SI.com, the AAV is “no longer the problem” between the two sides. Breer believes the Bengals are offering a contract that’s “well into the 30s” annually, and the offer is “closer to the top of the market than people want to believe.”

Just this offseason, we’ve seen four pass rushers surpass Nick Bosa‘s $34MM AAV, with T.J. Watt now pacing the position with a $41MM annual mark. While a Micah Parsons deal could slightly change the calculus, it sounds like the Bengals and Hendrickson are generally in agreement on the contract’s basic value.

The Bengals organization has traditionally shied away from offering guarantees beyond the first year of an extension, although they did buck that trend when it came to contracts for Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase. While those deals could have set a new precedent for the Bengals defensive leader, it sounds like the front office isn’t budging on their first-year guarantee stance.

There were some recent rumblings that the team was considering including some guaranteed money in the second year of Hendrickson’s contract, but it sounds like that still won’t be enough to satisfy the impending free agent. The Bengals are trying to point to the massive raise Hendrickson would see in 2025, but we learned that a $10MM gap in guaranteed money still exists between the two sides.

There were once reports that the Bengals hadn’t offered a contract that even touched a $35MM AAV, so from a glass-half-full perspective, Breer’s report seems like a positive step forward. However, there have been reports all along that a disagreement over guarantees were at the root of the showdown between the Bengals and Hendrickson, and that apparently hasn’t changed.

Hendrickson engaged in a brief holdout before reporting to training camp, but he refuses to practice with his teammates until he inks a new deal. The player later told reporters that “nothing has changed” when it comes to negotiations, so it sounds like this is a storyline that’s destined to continue throughout the preseason.

Following Terry McLaurin, Trey Hendrickson reported to training camp after a brief holdout. The Bengals can no longer levy nonwaivable $50K fines daily, but they will not see the disgruntled defensive end suit up for practice.

Hendrickson will also follow the Commanders wideout in staging a hold-in; unlike McLaurin, no injury designation is covering this tactic. Hendrickson (via the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Kelsey Conway) is healthy and not working out due to dissatisfaction with his Bengals negotiations.

[RELATED: Bengals Reach Compromise To Sign Shemar Stewart]

Although Hendrickson reporting to camp can be interpreted as a positive sign, the 2024 sack leader squashed a notion of improvement by saying (via The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr.) “nothing has changed” with regard to his Bengals impasse. Though, Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz indicates Hendrickson does plan to attend Bengals meetings to stay engaged while embroiled in this dispute.

Hendrickson wants future salary guarantees, a contract dealbreaker — for non-Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase performers — in Cincinnati. A report indicated Hendrickson rejected multiple Bengals offers following the franchise’s traditional structure, which features no post-Year 1 salary guarantees, and ESPN’s Adam Schefter confirmed (during a Pat McAfee Show appearance) locked-in money represents the final hurdle here. The parties are believed to be in agreement on total value.

The Bengals are not willing to budge much on guarantees, per Schefter, who indicates the parties are far apart here. Schefter pointed to a roughly $10MM guarantee gap existing while adding, in a notable inclusion, the Bengals have discussed a partial guarantee for Year 2 of the extension. We broached this as a possible middle ground in the latest Trade Rumors Front Office post, though Hendrickson is displeased with the amount of guaranteed money the team is willing to provide post-Year 1. For 2025, however, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero note Hendrickson would receive a “huge” raise.

Cincy broke with its guarantee M.O. for Chase while tying Tee Higgins to a traditional deal. Higgins being paid almost definitely is affecting Hendrickson, as all signs were pointing to Higgins departing — in free agency or via a tag-and-trade move — in 2025. Burrow’s persistent lobbying undoubtedly swayed the Bengals on Higgins, and the QB is still pushing for a Hendrickson extension. Considering the weight Burrow holds, his latest endorsement is notable.

“This is the guy that has the most sacks over the last two years,” Burrow said, via SI.com’s Russ Heltman. “Production is value in this league. I know you can think you’re such a good player, but to not have any production doesn’t really matter. So when you have a guy like that, you want to reward him.”

Burrow made a public plea to the Bengals on Hendrickson in May as well. Hendrickson and the Bengals being in agreement regarding value is an important takeaway here, but with the perennial Pro Bowler set to turn 31 later this year, ensuring protections beyond the first year of an extension represents an important negotiating component. An AAV number has not surfaced, but it would stand to reason it would be close to the $35.6MM figure Danielle Hunter agreed to with the Texans ahead of his age-31 season.

Early this summer, however, no $35MM-AAV proposal had come from the team. The Bengals had preferred to resolve this with a one-year add-on; Hendrickson already did that (in 2023), being tied to that one-year, $21MM bump. Significant updates to his position’s market have emerged since, many coming this year.

T.J. Watt raising the EDGE ceiling (to $41MM) before his age-31 campaign could also have inflated Hendrickson’s asking price; Watt’s full guarantees on a three-year deal ($108MM) likely emboldened the Cincinnati rusher as well.

While Hendrickson is unlikely to surpass that, the Bengals have seen this saga play out during an offseason in which the position’s market has seen four updates to its previous highwater mark (Nick Bosa‘s $34MM-per-year deal). Micah Parsons is at odds with the Cowboys, but that deal could affect a Hendrickson rate as well. Parsons going first and raising the market past $41MM per annum could introduce another element in the Hendrickson talks. For now, the sides remain dug in on the guarantee matter.