Trey Hendrickson and the Cincinnati Bengals are negotiating toward a contract extension after the two sides previously agreed to look for a trade partner for the 2024 NFL sacks leader.
According to The Athletic, the Bengals are attempting to keep Hendrickson long-term while working through salary-cap hurdles.
The news comes one day after multiple reports the team agreed to sign wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to massive contract extensions.
Chase, who was entering the final year of his most recent deal, is reportedly lined up for a four-year, $161 million contract that includes $112 million guaranteed.
The annual average salary of $40.25 million sets the league record for most lucrative for a non-quarterback.
Higgins reportedly agreed to a four-year, $115 million contract with the first two years guaranteed. The Bengals had used the franchise tag on Higgins for the second consecutive year to block him from reaching unrestricted free agency for the 2025 season. The one-year salary for franchise-tagged wide receivers is $26.2 million.
The Bengals and Higgins had a deadline of July 15 to come to terms on a long-term contract agreement. Higgins said he wanted to stay with Cincinnati. His trade value set under the terms of the CBA on franchise tags would be two first-round draft picks, if the team could have found a suitor for their No. 2 receiver.
The franchise was trying to figure out how to compensate two players at the same position as well as the entire team under the salary cap. The Bengals negotiated last preseason with Chase, who held out part of training camp before deciding to play without a new deal.
Hendrickson, 30, led the NFL with 17.5 sacks last season. He has one year remaining on a contract extension he signed in 2023 with a base salaary of $15.8 million for 2025.
The market for defensive players has climbed quickly.
Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby signed a record three-year, $106.5 million contract extension with Las Vegas in the latest signal of where the market could be headed for premium pass rushers. Crosby, 27, has 22 total sacks the past two seasons.
Then Cleveland Browns star defensive end Myles Garrett topped that with a reported four-year, $160 million extension that includes $123.5 million guaranteed.
At the NFL Scouting Combine, personnel boss Duke Tobin said Cincinnati was angling to keep Hendrickson, who was named first-team All-Pro last season and has a league-high 35 sacks since the start of the 2023 season. In four seasons with the Bengals, Hendrickson recorded 57 sacks and 11 forced fumbles.
Chase, who turned 25 on March 1, led the league in receptions (127), receiving yards (1,708) and touchdown receptions (17) as well as yards per game (100.5) in 17 games (16 starts).
The Bengals selected Chase with the fifth overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft out of LSU, where he was a teammate of his quarterback in Cincinnati, two-time Pro Bowl selection Joe Burrow.
For his career, Chase has 395 catches for 5,425 yards and 46 touchdowns in 62 regular-season games (61 starts). He also has 45 receptions for 588 yards and three TDs in seven playoff games (all starts).
He has been selected to the Pro Bowl in all four seasons, and was first-team All-Pro in 2024. Chase was the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2021.
Higgins, 26, played in 12 games (nine starts) in 2024 and caught 10 TD passes with 73 receptions for 911 yards. He has 34 career touchdowns, 330 catches and 4,595 yards in 70 regular-season games (62 starts) since being selected in the second round of the 2020 draft.
The Bengals used the No. 1 pick in the same draft to select Burrow, who has said he would be disappointed if Higgins doesn’t return.
–Field Level Media
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