Feb 6, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Trey Hendrickson on the red carpet before Super Bowl LIX NFL Honors at Saenger Theatre.

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Could Trey Hendrickson Leverage Sam Hubbard’s Retirement To Gain Upper Hand In Contract Negotiations?

Trey Hendrickson is looking for a massive contract, will Hubbard's retirement make the difference?

Feb 6, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Trey Hendrickson on the red carpet before Super Bowl LIX NFL Honors at Saenger Theatre.

The Cincinnati Bengals have a lot on their mind with respect to contract negotiations with their superstar player. WR1 Ja’Marr Chase is looking to become the highest-earning non-quarterback in the league. WR2 Tee Higgins has been tagged for the second year running, and they need to close a deal with their top defensive end Trey Hendrickson as well.

This will be Hendrickson’s third contract and the 30-year-old is looking to cash in as it could very well be his last major contract. Moreover, Hendrickson has been a huge asset for the Bengals on the defensive line. He is a 4-time Pro Bowler and earned his first First-team All-Pro honor in 2024. He has put back-to-back 17.5 sack seasons in 2023 and 2024, leading the league last season.

Effect On Salary Cap Following Hubbard’s Retirement

4-time captain and long-term member of the Cincinnati Bengals, defensive end, Sam Hubbard shocked everyone when he announced his retirement recently at just 29 years of age. Hubbard was in the prime of his career and could have gone on to play another few years.

However, after deciding to venture into other business ideas and spend more time on his health and with family, Hubbard has paved the way for Hendrickson to negotiate more aggressively.

With Hubbard announcing his retirement, it has instantly saved $9.5 million in cap space for the Bengals. That is a huge number and although Cincinnati won’t be able to just hand it all out to Hendrickson, he can still hope for some of that money as part of the negotiation process.

Also Read: Sam Hubbard calls it quits at just 29 years!

Could Trey Hendrickson Be Traded?

Reports coming out of the Bengals suggest that the two parties are nowhere near to agreeing on a figure. The fact of the matter is, Cincinnati has opted for the fifth-year option for Ja’Marr Chase and he is set to earn $21.8 million this year while looking to break the non-quarterback market with a new deal.

On the other hand, Tee Higgins’ second franchise tag means he will be earning $26.2 million and he is also pushing for a better deal. The problem Cincinnati is facing with Hendrickson is that the defensive end knows his worth and what the market is.

Hendrickson is going to make around $16 million in 2025, but the market is much higher for top defensive ends. Players at similar positions such as Myles Garrett and T.J. Watt are raking in $25-$28 million per year respectively, while Nick Bosa is making $34 million. In fact, just recently, Maxx Crosby has reset the amount by signing a new deal that will hand him $35.5 million per year. If Hendrickson is looking for something near or north of $30 million, it may not be possible for the Bengals to retain him.

Cincinnati Bengals

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Trey Hendrickson

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!