Trey Hendrickson will get his money in 2025, but the Bengals seem done with him after that.
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Moving along, it's a great morning for the Cincinnati Bengals, who finally agreed to a new deal with Trey Hendrickson that will see the 2024 Defensive Player of the Year runner-up finally take the field with his teammates for the first time all summer. Hendrickson had been holding in for a new deal after recording 17.5 sacks in consecutive seasons -- and Bengals brass held out on giving it to him.
On Monday, though, with the preseason over and the 2025 season looming, the sides came to a compromise. The Bengals gave Hendrickson the pay bump he wanted -- but only for one year. After that, he'll likely be testing the free agent market. The good times may not last very long after all.
Bengals, Trey Hendrickson agree to a new 1-year deal with a $14M raise. (via @Rapsheet, @TomPelissero) pic.twitter.com/APGzY0L36b
— NFL (@NFL) August 25, 2025
According to multiple reports, the Bengals originally offered Hendrickson a backloaded three-year, $95 million deal with no guarantees beyond the first season. That obviously wasn't good enough for the 30-year-old edge rusher, who was set to make $16 million in 2025.
This re-worked deal gives Hendrickson a $14 million raise to $30 million, but it also makes clear the Bengals have no intentions of keeping him beyond this season at that price tag. They hit him with the NFL front office equivalent of "here, damn." The Bengals will pay him in 2025 more because they have to than because they want to. It's a Super Bowl or bust type of season in Cincinnati.
Hendrickson's expiring deal isn't the only reason the Bengals have pressure to win now. They've committed a lot of money to other players too, particularly on offense. But his potential exit is among the biggest. If another elite pass rusher doesn't emerge from the group of players they're grooming behind Hendrickson, it's hard to imagine what's been a bad defense improving if and when he leaves. The way he seemingly had to pull teeth to get this deal from the Bengals, it's hard to imagine he doesn't go.
Commanders smartly rewarded Terry McLaurin
Hendrickson wasn't the only hold-out to get a new deal. Washington Commanders receiver Terry McLaurin also got paid, receiving a three-year, $96 million extension that rewards him for his consistent production through the years and mostly subpar quarterback play.
It was only right the team allow him to continue flourishing with an actual good quarterback in Jayden Daniels. FTW's Christian D'Andrea wrote about how McLaurin persevered to showed his true value in 2024.
"That alone may qualify him for sainthood. But his value was truly exposed in 2024. That's when he was Jayden Daniels' huckleberry in the quarterback's rookie of the year campaign. Daniels had a 133.0 passer rating when targeting McLaurin and a 99.8 rating when targeting anyone else. His 10 red zone touchdown catches led the NFL. He was one of only five receivers to rank in the top 10 when it came to expected points added (EPA) against zone AND man coverage, further showcasing his ability to create space and make life easy for a young, competent quarterback."
With many of the holdouts finally taken care of, the big one remaining is Micah Parsons and the Dallas Cowboys. That situation doesn't seem nearly as simple to resolve.
Quick Hits: NFL cutdown day ... YouTube TV-FOX dispute ... and more
- It's NFL cutdown day and FTW is keeping tabs on the biggest names released with our live NFL cuts tracker.
- Fox and YouTube TV are in the middle of a carriage dispute that could really disrupt college football fans in Week 1, Tyler Nettuno writes.
- Following yesterday's ranking of the NFL's starting quarterbacks, Christian is back with his backup quarterback tiers.
- Carlos Alcaraz shaved the hair on his head all the way down and it looks weird! But it turns out he has a very relatable reason for the chop.
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This article originally appeared on For The Win: Bengals give Trey Hendrickson pay bump to $30M but no extra years
Category: General Sports
