Cincinnati Bengals top DE Trey Hendrickson has requested a trade from the team, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, who broke the news moments ago. Per Schefter, Hendrickson is seeking a new contract to make more than the $15 million he’s due in 2024. He’s due a base salary of $15.8 million this year.
Signed as a free agent from the New Orleans Saints ahead of the 2021 season, Hendrickson had proven to be an awesome addition. Making the Pro Bowl in all three years with the Bengals, he’s recorded 39.5 sacks in his three seasons with the team. In 2023, he notched a career-high 17.5 of them. Against the Steelers last season, he picked up two of them.
He signed a one-year extension last July but could now be looking for a true long-term deal. He is currently outside the top-ten paid EDGE rushers in football.
UPDATE (6;44 PM):Â Per reporter Kelsey Conway, Hendrickson’s agent says he hopes the Bengals would be willing to give him a long-term deal. If not, he wants to be traded to a team who will. His agent also floated the idea of Hendrickson retiring. Hendrickson doesn’t turn 30 until December.
Hendrickson isn’t the first Bengal to want out. WR Tee Higgins also asked for a trade earlier in the offseason. But the Bengals placed the franchise tag on him and seem intent on keeping him for 2024, Higgins even admitting he expects to remain in Cincinnati.
Trey Hendrickson has appeared in 93 games for his career, making 64 starts and recording 59.5 sacks. He was originally a third-round pick out of Florida Atlantic, drafted by the Saints in 2017.
Other notable defensive ends on the Bengals roster include the underrated Sam Hubbard, 2023 first-round pick Myles Murphy, and Cam Sample. But even combined, those three didn’t come close to the 17.5 sacks Hendrickson put up last season. He was responsible for almost 40 percent of the Bengals’ total sacks in 2023.
Hendrickson may just be applying pressure on the Bengals to pay him. But we’ll see if any teams come calling to give him the contract he wants.
