Sportsnaut
Like all other NFL teams, the Cincinnati Bengals are ramping up for the start of the regular season. Cincinnati’s first game that counts kicks off Sunday, September 7, against the division rival Cleveland Browns. That’s exactly three weeks away, but now the Bengals are suddenly ready to move on from one of their very best players.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Bengals are “now listening to trade offers for Trey Hendrickson.”
This has been a storyline all offseason long, from the moment Hendrickson requested a trade out of Cincinnati back in March. The Bengals even granted the first-team All-Pro permission to seek a trade, but no offers materialized.
The 30-year-old led the NFL with 17.5 sacks last season, giving him his fourth double-digit sack season in the past five years. Hendrickson is set to have a cap hit of $18.6 million this season in what is the final year of his contract.
Yet, with others such as Myles Garrett, the NFL’s highest-paid defender, raking in an annual average value of $40 million per season, no wonder Hendrickson feels he’s worth more than he’s set to make. For whatever reason, the Bengals have been unwilling to meet the superstar defender’s asking price thus far, and now they appear to be done negotiating.
While Hendrickson would like to remain in Cincinnati, where Joe Burrow always gives them a strong chance of reaching the playoffs and even returning to the Super Bowl, Hendrickson may be fed up with how the current front office is handling his contract talks.
Related: Cincinnati Bengals Schedule Predictions 2025: Game by Game Bengals Predictions
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