Hendrickson is set to make $14.8 million this season and $15.8 million in 2025, but neither year has any guaranteed money attached and both count more than $18 million against the Bengals’ cap. The one-year contract extension was worth $21 million, including an $8 million signing bonus, according to Roster Management System.
Bengals three-time Pro-Bowl DE Trey Hendrickson has requested to be traded from Cincinnati, per league source. Hendrickson is due to make $15 million this season, and is looking for more long-term security than Cincinnati has been willing to offer. pic.twitter.com/PDNKTEiKII
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 24, 2024
“Our No. 1 goal is to get a long-term commitment from them,” Hendrickson’s agent, Harold Lewis, told ESPN.com. “If we can’t, then we’re asking for a trade. And hopefully if he gets traded, that’s what we do -- get a long-term commitment with somewhere else.”
The Bengals also received a trade request from Tee Higgins this offseason after he was franchise tagged, but Higgins is set to make $21.8 million if he signs the tag. According to multiple reports, Higgins was disappointed the Bengals had not negotiated a long-term extension since March of 2023.
Cincinnati gave Joe Burrow a $275 million deal in September and will be trying to lock down Ja’Marr Chase to a long-term deal as well.
The Bengals rewarded Hendrickson with the extension last July -- on top of his original four-year, $60 million deal -- but he then went on to a third straight Pro Bowl season and was pushing for the league’s sack title going into the season finale, finishing just short with 17.5 sacks.
“I want to stay a Bengal, and they gave me a tremendous opportunity,” Hendrickson said after he signed his extension last summer. “Two years ago, there was a lot of question marks around my name. They believed in me, and I still have the same desire to prove them right in the way they’ve invested in me. And that’s not something I take lightly. I have a tremendous amount of respect for them and the way they handle things, the organization, the way they care about people, like I said earlier, so just staying in the building personally for me is important.”
Lewis told ESPN.com that he and Hendrickson had a two-hour meeting with the Bengals in March about his contract, and the team is willing to discuss a potential new deal next year. According to ESPN, in that meeting, the Bengals indicated they had no interest in trading Hendrickson.
“I have a lot of respect for the organization,” Lewis told ESPN.com. “[Vice president] Troy Blackburn’s a good guy and he’s running a family business over there. But every player wants security. They want to know that they’re going to be around there for a while. This is a vicious game.”
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