Trey Hendrickson, Bengals Reportedly in Contract Stalemate But Not A Lot of Trade Buzz

The Cincinnati Bengals signed star wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to contract extensions early in the offseason, but defensive end Trey Hendrickson is still facing plenty of uncertainty with his own deal.
"They still want Trey, but this is in a contract stalemate a little bit," ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported during Sunday's SportsCenter. "Both sides are just sort of waiting this out post-draft. They got a few months to try to shake out a long-term extension that Hendrickson certainly deserves after a huge sack producer the last few years. So, the Bengals want to get this done.
"Certainly, they've made a commitment to trying to do it, but they have not made enough progress right now where a deal is imminent. But there's really not a lot of trade buzz here either. It sounds like he's going to be able to stay there, but they do have to get this done if they want him in the building, playing games for them."
The lack of trade buzz isn't all that surprising since the 2025 NFL draft is now in the rearview mirror.
Cincinnati likely would have wanted immediate draft capital in return if it was going to trade one of its star players, and now it would have to wait until the 2026 draft at the earliest for any picks it acquired in a potential trade to convey.
But there is also a sense of urgency to the situation as well.
"They have to do something because Hendrickson will surely miss offseason workouts without a deal, could even miss some training camp or game action," Fowler reported. "We'll see how that goes but he is dug in, I'm told."
At this point, Hendrickson is signed through just the 2025 campaign and set to make $15.8 million in base salary during the upcoming season. Trading him this offseason could allow the Bengals to get something back in return before he potentially leaves in free agency, but he is also one of the most productive pass-rushers in the league who could help them for years with an extension.
He led the NFL with 17.5 sacks last season and has been a Pro Bowler in each of his four years with Cincinnati.
The Bengals will be in win-now mode as long as Joe Burrow and Chase are on the roster, and their defense that was 25th in the league in points allowed held them back from being more of a Super Bowl threat during a 9-8 season in 2024.
Losing Hendrickson would make that unit even worse, even if they did select pass-rusher Shemar Stewart in the first round of the 2025 NFL draft.
Some might have seen Stewart as a replacement, but Judy Battista of NFL.com reported the Bengals "envision pairing" the veteran and rookie.
The only way to do that, though, is by settling the "contract stalemate" to avoid a holdout situation and even more uncertainty.