Pro Football Rumors
NOVEMBER 8: CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones confirms the price for Hendrickson at the deadline was indeed lowered to a second-round pick. Finances proved to be an issue in this case, however. Jones and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport note suitors were not prepared to take on the remainder of Hendrickson’s $16MM salary for that high of a trade price; Jones adds the Bengals were not willing to retain money to facilitate a deal. Per Rapoport, the top offer Cincinnati received ahead of the deadline was a fourth-round selection.
NOVEMBER 6: Three Trey Hendrickson trade windows opened this year. The Bengals let the then-disgruntled defensive end shop around in March, as the team moved Tee Higgins higher in its priority queue. In August, as bumpy extension talks persisted, Hendrickson trade rumors reappeared. At the deadline, buzz about Cincinnati being more amenable to moving on emerged.
But the Bengals still set a high asking price that, at the time, bordered on unrealistic. A report earlier this week indicated Cincy was still asking for a first-rounder. Hendrickson being in a contract year weeks from his 31st birthday made that a tough ask from the 3-6 team, and unsurprisingly, no takers emerged. As it turns out, however, the All-Pro may have been available for less than that price.
Teams believed on deadline day the Bengals would have moved on for a second-round pick, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. While trade talks with that price as the goal appear a bit more logical at this juncture, Fowler adds the Cowboys — who pursued Hendrickson — still viewed that cost as too steep.
Although Hendrickson notched back-to-back 17.5-sack seasons in 2023 and ’24, he has missed two of the past three games with a hip injury. The ninth-year defensive end does have four sacks and eight QB hits this season. Once again, though, the Bengals’ defense has performed poorly.
Hendrickson has provided an undeniable boost, but his presence has not moved the needle much for a team that has once again seen its defense impede a high-powered offense. Even as Joe Flacco‘s arrival has transformed the Bengals’ offensive capabilities — compared to the short Jake Browning period this season — they have lost back-to-back shootouts.
The Bengals were believed to have wanted more than a first-rounder for Hendrickson back in March. Although the Commanders and Falcons were among the teams connected to him, the Bengals balked. They are believed to have received an offer including a second-rounder and change before the draft; again, the team held on as a standoff — one of Cincy’s two contractual staredowns with a D-end this offseason (the other Shemar Stewart‘s rookie terms) — developed and lasted for most of the summer. It would appear the Bengals, only asking for a second this week, dropped their price from that level as well.
A report about the team dropping its price to a second in the summer did not receive much traction, and Hendrickson eventually received a raise — one that did not...
