Trey Hendrickson contract dispute: Bengals, pass rusher agree to one-year, $30 million deal

The Trey Hendrickson contract saga with the Cincinnati Bengals may finally be coming to a close. According to a report from Adam Schefter of ESPN, the team is closing in on a new deal for its star pass rusher.

The deal with reportedly raise his 2025 salary to $30 million — a raise of around $14 million — and make hi one of the highest paid defenders in the NFL. He is still scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason.

Hendrickson is coming off of a year in which he led the NFL with 17.5 sacks in addition to two forced fumbles, six passes defended and 46 total tackles. The defensive end is getting ready to enter his ninth NFL season overall and his fifth with Cincinnati. He has made the Pro Bowl in all four seasons with the Bengals and finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting this past year.

Hendrickson was initially holding in on the Bengals to start training camp but rejoined the team for practice at the end of July. Now nearly a month later, he finally got what he wanted and will be on board with the Bengals at least for this upcoming season.

Trey Hendrickson isn’t the only player that Cincinnati paid big this offseason. The Bengals doled out big contracts to receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins this offseason, with Chase’s $61 million deal making him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league.

Now Cincinnati enters this year with star players locked up on the offensive and defensive side of the ball and hoping to make a run into the postseason. The Bengals kick off the regular season on Sept. 7 against the Cleveland Browns.

Shemar Stewart sparks fury of Bengals offensive line after hitting Joe Burrow at practice

NFL training camps always produce a little bit of tension. But nothing will get a team fired up like someone hitting the quarterback. Cincinnati Bengals rookie defensive lineman Shemar Stewart found that out the hard way during practice earlier this month.

Stewart got tangled up with quarterback Joe Burrow on one pass-rush attempt. It led to the offensive line stepping up to him in a major way.

Center Ted Karras spoke after the practice about the incident and had two minds. First, he loves the ability Shemar Stewart showed but that type of hit can’t happen. Second, the offensive line has to do its part to prevent such hits.

“Hell yeah. Just be smarter,” Karras told reporters in the locker room. “I mean it was a great rush. I’ll have to see it. I was on the other side of the line of scrimmage. Great player. But come on, man. That’s all our hopes and dreams right there. We’ve got to be better, too. That’s on us.”

On3’s Thomas Goldkamp contributed to this report.