The Cincinnati Bengals have granted edge rusher Trey Hendrickson permission to seek a trade, and while teams are willing to give him the contract he desires, the Bengals’ current asking price in a trade is said to be, “ridiculous,” according to Dianna Russini of The Athletic.
The Bengals are seemingly prioritizing keeping wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins long-term, while getting what they can get for Hendrickson in a deal. Chase is entering the final year of his rookie contract, while Higgins has received the franchise tag for the second year in a row. It will be worth monitoring the status of their contract negotiations, as the team undoubtedly hopes to have both of those receivers for Joe Burrow for the long haul.
Hendrickson is currently entering the last year of his contract, so it is a logical time for him to want an extension as well. Ultimately, those talks did not progress with the Bengals, resulting in the trade request and subsequent talks with other teams. At the moment, teams are not willing to meet Cincinnati’s asking price for the edge rusher.
The interesting part of all of this is that the Bengals’ problem in 2024 was that the defense severely underperformed. Hendrickson is by far the best player on that unit, and subtracting him will mean that a lot more work needs to be done on that side of the ball for the Bengals to contend in 2025.
On the surface, it might be a bit confusing that the Bengals are seemingly choosing Higgins over Hendrickson, but when taking into account the age of the two players, it does make sense from a long-term perspective. Higgins is entering his age 26 season and seemingly has many productive years ahead of him, while Hendrickson is 30 years old and closer to the end of his prime years.
It will be interesting to see what happens with Hendrickson this offseason and where he potentially ends up come Week 1.
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