As the NFL stacks up offseason trade storylines with Myles Garrett and Cooper Kupp, reigning league sack leader Trey Hendrickson is on the list, as well.
Entering the final season of his current deal with the Cincinnati Bengals, Hendrickson is looking for an extension or a trade.
Talking Wednesday on The Pat McAfee Show, he expressed his gratitude for the Bengals rewarding him with the first lucrative deal of his career, but made clear it's time for another one.
"I think there's a time and a place, and I think the offseason is a good spot to address these kinds of issues that do come up," said Hendrickson, who requested a trade this past spring to no avail. "During the season, when you're talking about OTAs or camp, you don't want to become a distraction for the team, because inevitably the goal is to win a Super Bowl for Cincinnati. What that looks like this season, if it's something that we can agree on in terms that would be great. Ideally, my wife and I would love to stay in Cincinnati. If it's something that helps the Bengals win the Super Bowl, if they get picks or anything like that, I want to help win a Super Bowl for Cincinnati whether I'm there or not."
It's not commonplace to hear a standout player saying he'd love to help his team win a Super Bowl with or without him. That was the message delivered by Hendrickson, though.
Often overlooked in the NFL landscape, Hendrickson is one of the elite pass rushers in the game. He posted 17.5 sacks for a second straight season to earn his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl selection. That quartet of honors has all come during his time with Cincinnati, which signed him to a four-year, $60 million contract in the spring of 2021 after four seasons with the New Orleans Saints -- the last of which a breakout 13.5-sack campaign in 2020.
Hendrickson, who inked a one-year extension in 2023, is due a $15.8 million base salary in 2025, which is a paltry sum when considering his production.
However, the Bengals have financial decisions aplenty with wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase due an extension and fellow wideout Tee Higgins an impending free agent.
Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin is of the belief Hendrickson deserves a new contract, but there are only so many he can sign. He explained that point at the Senior Bowl.
"We can't have guys at the top of the payroll in every position, right?" Tobin said last week. "We'll do what we can. We'll do what we feel is right, and we will try to get Trey re-signed. It's not giving anybody an extension. It's agreeing with somebody on an extension."
It was a message Hendrickson wishes was delivered directly to him rather than hearing it through other channels.
"I would have preferred to hear it differently than my dad texting me a tweet," Hendrickson said. "That would have been great to kind of figure it out that way. Obviously, the table is being set in that way. I love to play football, and I love, from my perspective, for my play to do the talking. At the end of the day, I think the chips will fall where they'll be. Like I said, whatever happens, I want to win a Super Bowl for Cincinnati."
The Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles are closing in on the biggest -- and last -- game of the 2024 NFL season. For 30 other teams, though, offseason jockeying is already off and running.
For Hendrickson and the Bengals, that's where they're at.
The edge rusher whose productivity has earned him a pay bump is ready to face the reality that two options lay ahead: a very lucrative extension or a trade. It's as simple as that, regardless of if his heart is with the Queen City.
"You have to separate the business and the personal," he said. "Like with my wife and my family, we're looking for long-term security, guarantees. Those kinds of things matter when you're playing a violent sport. When you take the risk, we talked about it last year with the front office, and things like that and I have nothing but respect for them. They've taken care of my family beyond my wildest dreams.
"To come this way and to be rewarded for the way I played in New Orleans, I'm very humbled and appreciative of the opportunity they gave me. I continue to try to chop wood. ... Let the chips fall where they will."
