Trey Hendrickson has been seeking a new contract from the Cincinnati Bengals this offseason, and the star pass-rusher made it clear on Monday that the two sides are nowhere close to reaching an agreement.
Hendrickson ripped the Bengals in a statement he issued to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The 30-year-old said there has been no communication between his representatives and the team for several weeks and that the Bengals have shown a “lack of interest” in signing him to an extension.
“No communication has taken place between my camp and the organization post draft. The offers prior to the draft did not reflect the vision we shared and were promised last offseason if I continued to play at a high level,” Hendrickson wrote to Schefter. “Coaches are aware of these past conversations. Rather than using collaboration to get us to a point to bring me home to the team, THEY are no longer communicating. I have been eagerly awaiting a resolution of this situation, but that’s hard to do when there is no discussion and an evident lack of interest in reaching mutual goals.”
Trey Hendrickson statement today to ESPN: “No communication has taken place between my camp and the organization post draft. The offers prior to the draft did not reflect the vision we shared and were promised last offseason if I continued to play at a high level. Coaches are… pic.twitter.com/2MKBL60ATg
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 12, 2025
Hendrickson is set to make $16 million in the final season of his contract this year. He said in March that the Bengals had given him permission to seek a trade and thanked them for the opportunity. It then looked at one point like the two sides were making progress toward a new deal, but the negotiations have clearly gone stagnant.
Hendrickson had 35 sacks over the past two seasons, which was the most in the NFL during that span. He had 17.5 sacks each season and finished second in NFL Defensive Player of the Year voting this year.
The Bengals used their first-round pick in the draft (No. 17 overall) on former Texas A&M defensive end Shemar Stewart. They may have done so knowing there is a chance they won’t be able to hammer out a deal with Hendrickson.
Hendrickson has made the Pro Bowl in each of his four seasons with the Bengals. He sent a big warning to the team last month, and it sounds like the tension has only increased since then.
