by The Cincinnati Bengals may be preparing to make a number of movements this season. The Bengal have given all-pro defensive ending Trey Hendrickson permission to seek an exchange, per multiple reports on Thursday.
“It was an honor and privilege to represent Cincinnati for the past four years,” said Hendrickson, via ESPN’s Adam Schefter. “I love this city and organization. I appreciate the privilege that I can now explore my options.”
Hendrickson has spent the past four seasons in Cincinnati and has been appointed Pro Bowl for the past four consecutive years. Last season he was named first team All-Pro and he was a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year.
Hendrickson, a four-time pro-bowler, led the NFL last year and earned 17.5 bags in each of the last two seasons. He also grabbed 33 Solo -Tackles and two forced junk.
By having Hendrickson searched for a trading partner, the Bengal runs their focus to recipients Ja’marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Chase has worked on an extension to stay in Cincinnati, where Bengals top manager Duke Tobin promised to make him the “number 1 paid non-QB in the competition”. Higgins has since been marked by the team for the second year in a row.
There were questions about how Cincinnati could pay contracts with all three players; Now the Bengal can concentrate on the expansion of Chase and they may also get Higgins his extension.
Trade Trey Hendrickson seems to make the Tee Higgins extension more likely. At the moment, T -shirt under the second straight franchisetag. Execs in the competition had questions about the willingness of Bengal to pay Ja’marr, Tee and Trey. Trey Trade can clear the road for locking up Star WR duo. https://t.co/pxr3syunBC
– Jori Epstein (@Joriepstein) March 6, 2025
The Hendrickson trade would help to free up part of that money: the basic salary of the 30-year-old defending end is $ 15.8 million in 2025. His contract ends later this year, which means he had to do an extension. Instead, the Bengal let him look around.
