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How Does Trey Hendrickson’s Contract Restructure Put the Bengals on Super Bowl Watch after an Offseason Full of Big Money Deals?

Trey Hendrickson will be a Bengal this season

Mandatory Credit: Imagn Images

Monday, August 25, was a huge day for two of the three major hold-ins in the NFL. The Washington Commanders were able to extend wide receiver Terry McLaurin for three more years, and the Cincinnati Bengals were able to get Trey Hendrickson on the field for at least this season.

Is it the best news Bengals fans could have received? Probably not, but at least hopes for this season are now rekindled. After an entire offseason worth of frustrations, leading to Hendrickson first holding out of training camp, then becoming a hold-in and not taking part in preseason games, there is something to look forward to with this restructured deal.

Hendrickson Is Now the Sixth Highest Paid Edge Rusher This Year

With both parties unable to reach a long-term agreement, Cincinnati has agreed to restructure Hendrickson’s deal, which will now see him make $30 million this year. That is a huge rise of nearly $14 million on his previous deal.

Wanting to be near the top of the edge rusher market after the likes of T.J. Watt, Myles Garrett, and Maxx Crosby all got paid, Hendrickson now occupies the sixth spot on the list of top-paid among all edge rushers.

Player	Team	Salary per year
T.J. Watt	Pittsburgh Steelers	$41 million
Myles Garrett	Cleveland Browns	$40 million
Danielle Hunter	Houston Texans	$35.6 million
Maxx Crosby	Las Vegas Raiders	$35.5 million
Nick Bosa	San Francisco 49ers	$34 million
Trey Hendrickson	Cincinnati Bengals	$30 million

Trey Hendrickson jumps into the top tier of EDGE salaries 💰 https://t.co/jrwpPcCz3Y pic.twitter.com/NRSLvf2miM
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) August 25, 2025

Despite the restructured deal, the defensive end is still set to become a free agent at the end of this season. As per The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, Hendrickson refused a three-year deal worth $95 million since the guaranteed money in the second year was not what he desired.

At 30 years of age, Cincinnati was non-committal on a contract with guarantees past the first year, and that was the main reason for negotiations coming to a standstill. As per Hendrickson, his overall contributions since arriving in Cincy, in particular the last couple of seasons, should have warranted more guaranteed money.

In any case, if he continues to produce at a similarly high level again in 2025, the 2024 NFL sack leader could have huge contract offers waiting for him once he hits free agency.

Can the Bengals Reach Another Super Bowl with Defensive Boost?

The Bengals’ core unit of players, including Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Trey Hendrickson, all landed in Cincinnati during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Since then, this core has become the backbone of the team, and if they all click, the Bengals have the chance to become one of the most feared teams in the league.

During Super Bowl weekend this year, Stephen A. Smith asked Joe Burrow if the #Bengals could seriously re-sign all of Higgins/Chase/Hendrickson.

When beginning to explain how they could, he was laughed at by the desk.

All three of them have now accepted new deals with the team. pic.twitter.com/fBWGkkGPk8
— SleeperBengals (@SleeperBengals) August 25, 2025

After reaching the Super Bowl during the 2021 season and making it back to the AFC Championship game the following year, the Bengals have gone consecutive seasons with a 9-8 record.

2023 ended in disappointment, with the main factor being the season-ending wrist injury to Joe Burrow in week 11, while 2024 was a disaster on the defensive front. The Bengals were one of the worst defenses all of last year, and even though the offense was putting up points in excess of 30 on a consistent basis, the defense couldn’t close out the games. In fact, they now hold the NFL record for the most points per game scored in losses with 27.8.

✅ Signed Ja’Marr Chase
✅ Signed Tee Higgins
✅ Signed Trey Hendrickson

Haters can hate. But the #Bengals got it all done. https://t.co/jPFHhSxuZC
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) August 25, 2025

Anyway, 2024 is in the past, and Cincinnati has done an excellent job in shoring up the defense, not only by keeping Hendrickson on for another season but by sorting out the contract of first-round rookie Shemar Stewart, who could be a huge addition to the team this season. That Cincy defense is now looking a lot better, at least on paper. On the field, they still have a lot of work to do.

But the good news is that the offense is back again with Chase and Higgins having signed mammoth deals in the offseason, and Burrow, healthy to lead from the front. If they can strike a balance on both sides, there is good reason for the league to fear the might of the ‘Who Dey Nation.’

Mandatory Credit: Imagn Images

Cincinnati Bengals

Ja’Marr Chase

Joe Burrow

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Tee Higgins

Trey Hendrickson

Trey Hendrickson contract

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!