Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson (91) hangs his head on the sideline in the fourth quarter of the NFL Week 9 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati on Sunday, Nov. 7, 2021. Cleveland kept a halftime lead to clinch a 41-16 win over the Bengals.

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Bengals Continue To Turn a Deaf Ear Toward Star Defender Trey Hendrickson

Trey Hendrickson's contract saga continues!

The main contract extension saga that continues to linger on ahead of the 2025 NFL season is the one involving the Cincinnati Bengals and their defensive end, Trey Hendrickson.

After signing both their wide receivers, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to monumental deals, much before the draft, the focus shifted completely towards Hendrickson, who is by all accounts the team’s best player on defense.

But, it seems that after several back-and-forth attempts between the player and the team, nothing has materialized, and now the sacks leader from the 2024 season appears to be annoyed with his current situation.

Hendrickson’s Recent Statement to ESPN

The Bengals’ defender recently spoke to ESPN, where he sounded visibly frustrated with the way his contract talks are shaping up. Hendrickson mentioned that there has been no further communication from the organization after the conclusion of the draft.

He also alluded to his past conversations with the team in which he was promised an offer to his liking if he continued to play well.

“No communication has taken place between my camp and the organization post draft. The offers prior to the draft did not reflect the vision we shared and were promised last offseason if I continued to play at a high level. Coaches are aware of these past conversations. Rather than using collaboration to get us to a point to bring me home to the team, THEY are no longer communicating. I have been eagerly awaiting a resolution of this situation, but that’s hard to do when there is no discussion and an evident lack of interest in reaching mutual goals.”

Trey Hendrickson statement today to ESPN: “No communication has taken place between my camp and the organization post draft. The offers prior to the draft did not reflect the vision we shared and were promised last offseason if I continued to play at a high level. Coaches are… pic.twitter.com/2MKBL60ATg
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 12, 2025

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Hendrickson has been waiting for a long time to sort out his extension, but as is evident from his communication with ESPN, the star is not happy with the offers that have come his way. With 17.5 sacks each in the past two seasons, Hendrickson brings a lot to the table, and it is possible he could be expecting a figure close to the top of the market for his position.

Bengals Claim Regarding Hendrickson’s Extension

As per another ESPN Insider, Dan Graziano, the Bengals front office has made it clear that they believe they have made fair offers to the defender and that he should be happy with it.

Graziano also went on to add that the main issue the Bengals have had with big contract extensions is with multi-year guarantees for veteran players. While the franchise has made exceptions in the case of Joe Burrow, Chase, and Higgins, it is important to factor in their ages as well. All three players were 26 or younger when they signed their extensions, whereas Hendrickson is already 30.

The actual reasons for which the contract talks are breaking down are not known, but it is becoming more and more clear that Hendrickson’s time in Cincinnati is nearing an end. Either the Bengals can trade him, or risk losing him for free if no extension is signed by next season.

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Devavrat Kulkarni

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I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!