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Ben Baby
CINCINNATI — Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson said the team has cut off contract talks amid a dispute regarding a new deal.
In a statement to ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Monday, Hendrickson said “no communication has taken place between my camp and the organization” following the NFL draft in April.
Hendrickson also said the offers presented by the Bengals “did not reflect the vision we shared and were promised” if he continued to play at a high level. According to Hendrickson, discussions toward a new deal have stalled out.
“Rather than using collaboration to get us to a point to bring me home to the team, THEY are no longer communicating. I have been eagerly awaiting a resolution of this situation, but that’s hard to do when there is no discussion and an evident lack of interest in reaching mutual goals,” Hendrickson said in the statement.
Trey Hendrickson statement today to ESPN: “No communication has taken place between my camp and the organization post draft. The offers prior to the draft did not reflect the vision we shared and were promised last offseason if I continued to play at a high level. Coaches are… pic.twitter.com/2MKBL60ATg
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 12, 2025
Hendrickson, 30, is entering the final year of his contract and is coming off his best season in the NFL. He led the league with 17.5 sacks last season and was named to The Associated Press All-Pro team, marking one of the Bengals’ first selections to the list since 2015. Ja’Marr Chase, Cincinnati’s other All-Pro selection last season, got a new $161 million contract this offseason that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in league history.
Hendrickson has made the Pro Bowl in each of his four seasons with Cincinnati. In 2023, he was given a one-year extension on the four-year, $60 million deal he signed as a free agent in 2021. Last offseason, he requested a trade after the team opted not to give him a new deal. He ultimately reported for voluntary workouts.
Hendrickson’s comments Monday were the latest public development in the ongoing contract saga. Last month, in an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Hendrickson expressed his disappointment with Bengals executive Katie Blackburn’s comments made at the NFL’s annual league meeting on his contract talks with the team.
“I think he should be happy at certain rates that maybe he doesn’t think he’d be happy at,” Blackburn said April 1. “I think some of it is on him to be happy at some point, and if he’s not, that’s what holds it up sometimes. It takes him to say yes to something. We have all the respect in the world for him.”
During his appearance on McAfee’s show, Hendrickson said he was disappointed with Blackburn’s comments “because the communication has been poor over the last couple of months.” He also said the Bengals have not communicated with his agent directly about his contract, saying that has “been something that’s been a little bit frustrating.”
Last Friday, Bengals coach Zac Taylor did not have an update on Hendrickson’s contract when he met with the media after the team’s rookie minicamp.
Hendrickson is set to earn $15.8 million in base salary this season, the final year of his contract. On McAfee’s show, Hendrickson said that he’s not seeking to become the highest-paid defensive end or “first in line” to get a deal but that there is an urgency to get something done. The Bengals will begin organized team activities later this month.
Hendrickson isn’t the only defensive end on the roster looking to resolve a contract issue. Shemar Stewart, the 17th pick in this year’s draft, did not participate in last week’s rookie minicamp because his contract remained unsigned.
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