NFL teams had until 4 p.m. Tuesday to use their franchise tag, and doing so with Hendrickson would have been guaranteed him $30.2 million for 2026. He’s expected to hit the market when free agency opens at 4 p.m. on March 11, as it seems unlikely the parties will be able to agree on a new deal before then.
“I don’t throw anything on or off the table with Trey, and we’re excited about attacking this offseason,” Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin said last week at the NFL Combine. “We have resources to attack the offseason in a big way, and we want to do that. In terms of how we’re going to do that, how we’re going to allocate our resources, you know, who is it going to be on, our own free agents, what’s our intentions there, I’m not going to get into that right here.”
Hendrickson, who arrived as a free agent in 2021, was a key part of Cincinnati’s back-to-back AFC Championship appearances his first two seasons, and he was a perennial Pro Bowler with the Bengals until this past year when he was limited to seven games because of hip and pelvis injuries.
A 2017 third-round draft pick of the New Orleans Saints, Hendrickson came to Cincinnati with something to prove after the Saints let him get to free agency despite finishing with 13.5 sacks in 2020. He immediately proved that was no fluke season, recording double-digit sacks for three of the next four campaigns, including back-to-back years with 17.5 sacks in 2023 and 2024, which tied for second-most in Bengals history behind Coy Bacon’s 22 sacks in 1976.
Despite his limitations last season, he still produced four sacks, and his 74.5 sacks since 2020 ranks the third-most in the NFL for that time period.
Hendrickson is projected to receive a massive new contract in free agency, with estimates ranging from $50 million over two years (according to Spotrac.com) to a $99 million deal (according to The Athletic). Tagging Hendrickson would have allowed the Bengals the opportunity to retain him as an asset for a potential trade, but it likely is time for all parties just to move on.
There have been several reports of interest in Hendrickson in pending free agency, including the Indianapolis Colts, where former Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo enters his second season on staff.
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