Trey Hendrickson's contract saga with the Bengals just took its latest turn.
Cincinnati is listening to trade offers for the four-time Pro Bowl pass rusher now that contract talks are at an impasse, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported Sunday.
Rapoport added that any deal to wrest Hendrickson away from Cincy will be expensive, likely requiring a young player and a future pick.
Such a price might make sense for a playoff-ready team looking to punch up its pass rush.
Hendrickson was granted permission to seek a trade back in March, though nothing came of it then and he reported to training camp to hold in rather than hold out in order to avoid being a larger distraction.
The 30-year old has been an absolute stud for the Bengals. He's compiled 77 career sacks and made every Pro Bowl since the 2021 campaign, and last season had a league-leading 17.5 sacks -- his second straight year with that total -- with two forced fumbles, 46 tackles and six passes defensed on the way to his first All-Pro selection and a second-place finish in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
He's rightfully seeking top-of-the-line money at his position, and he's had to sit by and watch several of his peers around the league receive just that this offseason.
When Cincinnati first gave Hendrickson permission to seek a trade, the news came out a day after Maxx Crosby signed a three-year, $106.5 million extension with the Raiders.
Five months later, and three other pass rushers have already surpassed Crosby's $35.5 million average salary: the Texans' Danielle Hunter, the Browns' Myles Garrett and the Steelers' T.J. Watt, who leads them all at $41 million per year.
Watt is especially notable. Like Hendrickson, he is entering his age-31 season.
Hendrickson is also currently going into the final year of his contract ranked 12th with an average of $21 million per year from his previous extension.
Perhaps the potential age cliff poses too different an equation for the Bengals than it did for the Steelers, though, leaving contract discussions at a standstill.
Hendrickson said after receiving permission to seek a trade that there's no place he'd rather be than Cincy, though a couple months later claimed he wouldn't play for the team in 2025 under his current contract and stayed away from the Bengals' offseason program.
Should the Bengals find a willing trade partner, they'll receive quite a return, but also subtract one of the league's best pass rushers from a defense that was already a considerable weakness last season. They'd move forward with players such as Joseph Ossai and rookie Shemar Stewart, who also endured contract squabbles with the team.
It's been a long time since Hendrickson's discontent first became public knowledge, but the clock is rapidly ticking on the start of the regular season, before which the Bengals (and any other team interested) would likely prefer a resolution.
