Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Former NFL Legend Boomer Esiason’s Compromising Solution for Trey Hendrickson and the Bengals

Bengals' chances of returning to the Super Bowl rest on Hendrickson's shoulders

Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

The Cincinnati Bengals seem to have reached a stalemate with their star defensive end, Trey Hendrickson, even as training camp has already started. While the team is busy working towards the start of the regular season, Hendrickson sits nearly 1,000 miles away in Florida, waiting for a better offer.

It’s pretty clear by now that neither party is willing to budge from their stance, which has led to an unfortunate situation for the AFC North franchise. The 2024 sacks leader has already stated that he was willing to take less in some ways so that he could make the deal work out.

On Tuesday afternoon, Trey Hendrickson told @DMRussini why he left his house in Cincinnati to head to Florida while the Bengals began their training camp.

“I was more than willing to take less in some ways in order to make this work.”
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) July 22, 2025

Speaking on the ‘Up and Adams’ show hosted by Kay Adams, former NFL and Bengals’ great Boomer Esiason offered a solution that could work out for both the team and the player alike.

Hendrickson’s Value to the Bengals’ Chances at a Super Bowl

While on the topic of the Cincinnati Bengals and their current struggles in signing both rookie Shemar Stuart and Trey Hendrickson, Adams asked Esiason to weigh in with his thoughts on the whole situation.

The 1988 NFL MVP acknowledged that while he was treated fairly by the franchise in his days, he understands that many other players have had their fair share of troubles signing contracts with the Bengals. At the same time, he feels the Bengals need to hold on to their star asset.

“They need defensive help. I mean, this is one of the worst defenses in football last year. To me, if they don’t have Trey Hendrickson, who is a leader on defense, a leader in the locker room, does everything the right way, gives you 17.5 sacks over the last two seasons, so for a total of 35 sacks. I don’t know how you don’t get him back into camp.”

The Bengals not only need Hendrickson’s output on the defensive side of the ball, but they also need him to be the leader and mentor to their rookie first-round pick, Shemar Stuart. The two will be an essential component if Cincinnati is to get back to the Super Bowl.

Can anybody blame Trey Hendrickson? The numbers simply don’t lie… #Bengals @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/NlxFjzlrHc
— StaceyDales (@StaceyDales) July 23, 2025

Esiason’s Simple Solution of Compromise

Esiason feels that both parties need to compromise and come up with a solution, because he sees this as a good fit not only for the franchise, but for the 31-year-old as well. Per the former quarterback, maybe a little more guaranteed money and a two-year contract could help tilt the scales in the Bengals’ way.

“I’d like to see some sort of meeting in the middle, and my compromise would be two more years on a contract and probably about 15 to 20 million in more guaranteed money. So he’ll make his money this year, that’s already guaranteed.”

"I think he's the perfect fit for Cincinnati and they need to sign him."

Boomer Esiason has a solution for the Bengals ongoing contract dispute with Trey Hendrickson 💰@heykayadams | @7BOOMERESIASON | #WhoDey pic.twitter.com/lVNhDlNBPO
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) July 23, 2025

Looking around the market, it is easy to understand where Hendrickson is coming from. Other players at his position have gotten huge contracts and three years’ worth of guaranteed money, even though he has outperformed them over the past couple of years.

Cincinnati has plenty of firepower on the offensive side of the ball, but we saw what happened to them on defense last year, even when they had Hendrickson leading the charge. If he does not get the type of deal he is looking for, he has made it clear he will not return in his final year of contract. That is certainly food for thought for the Bengals’ management.

Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Boomer Esiason

Cincinnati Bengals

Kay Adams

NFL

Trey Hendrickson

Up and Adams

Devavrat Kulkarni

nfl

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!