One of the biggest question marks attached to the Cincinnati Bengals 2025 season has been answered. After a long off-season of contract negotiations, the team’s premier defensive player has come to a decision.
Trey Hendrickson sat out of the Bengals preseason games as his holdout kept him out of practice as well. The four-time Pro-Bowler has been adamant about earning more money in the 2025 season. Finally, the team came to an agreement with their star EDGE rusher.
Cincinnati Bengals Resign Trey Hendrickson to One-Year, $30 Million Contract
While it’s not a long term solution, it’s a step in the right direction. The Bengals 2025 season has a better outlook as Hendrickson will remain on the team. Cincinnati may not have the best front office in the league, but they eventually worked things out with both him and Shemar Stewart.
The Bengals defense has always been the biggest question mark. With the likes of Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins signed to massive contracts, many have wondered why Cincinnati doesn’t take that approach with their defense.
After recording 17.5 sacks in both 2023 and 2024, Hendrickson is set to become one of the highest paid defensive players in the league. Adam Schefter broke the news that the team came to a $30M agreement with their 2024 First-team All-Pro.
The agreement is a good-news, bad-news situation for the team. It’s clearly a short term solution as their relationship with Hendrickson continued to decrease over time. While he’s going to be a crucial part of their success in 2025, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where he remains on the team beyond this season.
Trey Hendrickson had insisted that he wouldn’t play this season for the $16 million remaining on his contract. Now he has a reworked contract and is expected to play in the Bengals opener vs. the Browns,” Schefter wrote.
Bengals 2025 Season Outlook
Cincinnati will open their season on September 7 in Cleveland. Three of their first four games will be on the road. September 14 against the Jacksonville Jaguars is their lone home game through Week 4. Week 3 sees the team in Minnesota as they’ll head to Denver for a Monday Night Football matchup in Week 4.
Hendrickson provides a much needed spark to a rather lackluster Bengals defense. Last season, the team finished 9-8 which failed to bring them to the postseason. This year, HC Zac Taylor took a different approach by playing starters in the preseason.
The Bengals 41-14 loss in their preseason finale should be taken with a grain of salt. That said, they did win their first preseason game since August 27, 2022. Even though Hendrickson didn’t play, star players like Burrow and rookie such as Stewart received valuable reps on the field.
Currently, ESPN lists B.J. Hill and DJ Turner II as questionable. Both are key starters the team can’t afford to lose on defense. Hill has been in the league since 2018 while Turner was drafted by Cincinnati two seasons ago.
With 35 sacks in his past two seasons, it’s no surprise that he’s a Top 10 ranked EDGE rusher, according to Pro Football Focus. Hendrickson received an 88.1 overall grade last season which was good for No. 8. He’ll need to match that performance again in 2025 to prove he’s worth the $30M.
Blockbuster Announcement in Cincinnati as Bengals End Trey Hendrickson Holdout