Trey Hendrickson won't play for Bengals in 2025 without new deal: 'It's become personal'

Trey Hendrickson will not play for the Cincinnati Bengals this season unless he gets a new contract. On Tuesday, the All-Pro defensive end spoke to reporters after the team’s offseason workout and discussed his current situation with the Bengals. Hendrickson is looking for a new contract, and the relationship between him and the Bengals reached a boiling point this week when head coach Zac Taylor sent him a text message about being fined if he misses the team’s mandatory minicamp.

“We’ve tried to keep it as least amount as personal as possible, but at some point in this process it’s becomes personal,” Hendrickson said, per ESPN. “Being sent 30 days before mandatory camp, or how many ever days it is, that if I don’t show up I will be fined alludes to the fact that something won’t get done in that time frame.”

Jeremy Fowler of ESPN said, “People close to Hendrickson and those who have coached him believed for some time that Hendrickson had conviction on his contract and was a major threat to sit out games as a result. Hendrickson took that stand publicly today.”

Trey Hendrickson is a top pass rusher in the NFL

Hendrickson, 30, is in the final year of his contract with the Bengals. He signed a four-year deal in 2021 and signed a contract extension in 2023. Trey Hendrickson has become one of the top pass rushers in the NFL, reaching the Pro Bowl the last four seasons and being named to the All-Pro First Team last year after posting 46 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, 17.5 sacks, and six passes defended.

In March, the Bengals granted Hendrickson the ability to seek a trade. He said the team is pushing for a short-term contract, but he’s looking to stay with the Bengals for a long time.

This year, Hendrickson is set to make $15.8 million in base salary. In recent months, the Florida native has expressed his frustration with what the Bengals’ front office said at league events regarding his status with the team.

“There are unprovoked shark attacks and there’s provoked shark attacks,” Hendrickson said. Losing Hendrickson would be a significant blow to a defense that struggled last year. But with the Bengals giving big contract extensions to wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins in March, can they give Hendrickson what he wants?