Cincinnati Bengals grant All-Pro EDGE Trey Hendrickson permission to seek trade

The Cincinnati Bengals have given EDGE Trey Hendrickson permission to seek a trade, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero. Hendrickson has one year left on his contract with the Bengals. He is set to receive $16 million this year.

Last offseason, Hendrickson requested a trade from the Bengals but a move was never made. Hendrickson finished the 2024-25 campaign with 46 tackles and 17.5 sacks, 3.5 more than the next closest player.

For his efforts, he was named a First-Team All-Pro for the first time in his career. Hendrickson has been selected to play in the Pro Bowl the last four seasons.

In January, Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin said the organization wanted to offer Hendrickson a new deal.

“Has he earned a pay raise and a bump in an extension … he has,” Tobin said. “We’re cognizant of that, and we will give that to him. But whether we agree on what that looks like, is what is to be determined.”

Obviously, a deal between the two parties never came to fruition. Hendrickson isn’t the only player who the Bengals had to worry about this offseason.

Wide receiver Tee Higgins‘ contract was up and the team ultimately used its franchise tag on him for the second consecutive season when a new deal couldn’t be reached. The Bengals will pay Higgins $26.2 million to keep him in Cincinnati next season.

Moreover, the Bengals are working to strike a new contract with star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, whose contract will end after the 2025-26 season. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Bengals plan on making Chase the highest-paid non-QB in the NFL to keep him with the organization.

Chase led the NFL in receiving yards (1,708), touchdowns (17) and receptions (127) last season. The Minnesota Vikings’ Justin Jefferson is currently the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL, earning an average of $35 million a year. To keep Chase around for the foreseeable future, the Bengals will likely have to top this number.

At 30 years old, Trey Hendrickson is the oldest of the three players. Thus, it’s no surprise the Bengals are willing to part ways with him before Higgins and Chase. Duke Tobin addressed this exact issue earlier this year.

“We can’t have guys at the top of the payroll in every position, right?” Tobin said. “We’ll do what we can. We’ll do what we feel is right, and we will try to get Trey re-signed. It’s not giving anybody an extension. It’s agreeing with somebody on an extension.”