The prevailing assumption is that Trey Hendrickson’s days in Cincinnati are over. However, Bengals director player personnel Duke Tobin wouldn’t etch that in stone.
Speaking to SiriusXM NFL Radio this week, Tobin was asked if there was any chance the pass rusher is a Bengal in 2026.
“I never will rule out any possibility,” he said. “He’s a good football player. So, is there a chance he’ll be with us? We’re in the business of good football players, so I can’t rule it out. But I don’t know what the future holds.”
Squatting on Hendrickson’s rights with the franchise tag would cost north of $30 million this season, with a salary cap-hit of $36.7 million for Cincinnati. Given how last year unfolded, that maneuver would seem untenable, but Tobin wasn’t showing his cards.
“And in terms of the tag, we’re still moving through that,” the de facto GM said. “I don’t have a definite answer there. We have resources, and how we deploy them are things that will come out. Unfortunately, this event never really provides me an opportunity to be transparent. It really doesn’t because it falls when it falls. We’re not gonna announce our intentions for the 31 other teams to know, well, you know, it is or it isn’t. And maybe internally, we’re still struggling with the dynamic of exactly how to best go about this. That’s where we are at the moment.”
A tag-and-trade has been floated as one option for the Bengals to get some compensation back for the pass rusher, but Tobin noted on Tuesday that such moves are difficult because all the stars must align.
"All trades are difficult," Tobin said. "You got to find a partner and you have to find somebody that you have to have some cooperation with your players that you're talking about this with. Trades can be complicated and that hypothetical scenario would be very complicated."
After generating a league-high 17.5 sacks in 2024, Hendrickson is coming off a down season, earning four sacks in seven games before ending the season on injured reserve due to a core muscle injury.
Unless the Bengals decide to tag the 31-year-old, he’ll hit free agency as one of the top edge rushers in a league that is constantly searching for QB disruptors.
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