Trey Hendrickson Update

[*bengalfan74*]

I keep on hoping I'm going to log on here and see - Mike Brown came to his senses and upped Trey's pay (guaranteed money) and gave ground and signed Stewart.

But I guess MB would much rather get "his win" in on these issues than be serious about upgrading the defense and trying to put the team in a position to make a run at winning the S.B.

Strange hill to die on Mike

[Luvnit2]

(Yesterday, 03:57 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Watt just got $108m guaranteed.
If Trey only got the first year guaranteed, he'd be getting about $68m LESS guaranteed than Watt, or about only 37% of what Watt got.

I don't think that is "compromise" so much as just giving up and accepting being vastly underpaid compared to the market and with no real future security at all.

Didn't Watt extend for 3 more years, so 4 total? It appears Trey may only extend for 2 years or 3 total.

So obviously a 40 million dollar difference immediately.

If Bengals give Trey a 20 million dollar signinging bonus, then guarantee the 16 millio he is at 36 million guaranteed of 36 million year 1 so at 100% guarantee in 2025.

Then in year 2 if they give Trey 35 million and guarantee 25 million in year 2
Then in year 3 give him 40 million with no guarantees, overall looks like this.

2 year extenion for 95 million with guantees of 61 million guaranteed.

I don't think that would be a bad deal for Trey if it were offered. Again Trey's starting point is no guarantee so goes from zero to 61 million with chance to make another 50 million f he stays great.

[*rfaulk34*]

(Yesterday, 03:25 PM)Au165 Wrote: JJ Watt went from 16 sacks to 4 the following year in an injury shortened season, which isn't uncommon for guys over 30. The following year though when he played all 16 games he only recorded 5 sacks. Von Miller went from 14.5 to 8 the following year and has never hit 10 sacks again. Let me use an all time great like Demarcus Ware, he went from 19.5 sacks at 29 to 11.5 at 30 then only broke 7.5 sacks (10) one other time the last 4 years of his career. 

The question is if we look back in 3 years and we got let's say 24 sacks out of him on this contract for around 96 million are we going to be happy about that? Especially if say 10-12 came in year 1?

We should have taken the 2nd round pick for him and cap space. Grabbed another vet and doubled up on pass rusher with Shemar (I guess) and one of the other 6 pass rushers taken in round 2. We could have replaced him through volume of rushers as the Eagles do.

Here's my question. 

With a QB like Burrow, going into his 6th year with no rings, having lost one and just missing competing for another...should we be focusing on maximizing the talent for a shot at a ring this year, or focusing on the team for the next 3 years? Taking out the whole 'you have to have at least some foresight', how many more years does Burrow have in his utmost prime? Is Trey falling off a cliff, next year...the year after...the year after...more important than putting a team together than can win a ring in 2025?

To me, when you have a QB that most believe can get it done, shouldn't you be on a year to year schedule, doing everything you can to win that year?

Is signing Trey, coming off B2B 17.5 sack seasons a bad idea for this year? Is it such a factor that you may not get 8+ sacks from him next year or the year after, that you're willing to take away from this year?

[Clark W Griswold]

(Yesterday, 03:25 PM)Au165 Wrote: The question is if we look back in 3 years and we got let's say 24 sacks out of him on this contract for around 96 million are we going to be happy about that? Especially if say 10-12 came in year 1?

Yes I could live with it if he fell off to say 11 this year then 8 then 5. That’s the risk you take to try and win it all and that’s still decent sack numbers. It’s the up to the team to develop the young guys to help him so that in three years they are not relying totally on him and their young edges will
Still be on rookie deals.

Offer 2 years of guarantees and see if he bites. I feel it’s worth the risk because you gambling he will still be productive if not the same all pro he was.

[*rfaulk34*]

(Yesterday, 03:31 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: This is where the compromise from Trey's camp needs to come in to play. 

Give Trey the years and dollars he wants, but only guarantee the first year and maybe get creative with the other years. 

Trey needs to understand that hes not a 20 something in his prime seeking his second contract. 

That seems to be the sticking point right now. He wants guarantees in more than just the 1st year. 

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(Yesterday, 04:21 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: Didn't Watt extend for 3 more years, so 4 total? It appears Trey may only extend for 2 years or 3 total.

The post I replied to said "give Trey the years and dollars he wants". So the rest of your post isn't really helpful because you're operating on a different criteria than what we were discussing.

...even if you ignore that part, you're telling Trey it's a good deal to accept 50% of the signing bonus that Twatt got. Taking 1/2 of what your peers get isn't "compromise". 

[*rfaulk34*]

(Yesterday, 03:31 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: JJ Watt also had 0.0 sacks (age 28 season) the year before the 16 and 1.5 sacks (age 27 season) the year before that because he played 5 and 3 games those years.

Hendrickson has missed 1 game due to injury in his 4 years here.

Yessir.

Watt's full season (16 games) average for sacks is 12.9, including his age 31 season (5.0) and his age 33 season (12.5) and his rookie season (5.5). 

[Essex Johnson]

(05-12-2025, 07:02 PM)NUGDUKWE Wrote:

Yeah, Trey sounds very frustrated with the Bengals on the @PatMcAfeeShow

He says communication has been poor and they haven't talked to his agent directly.

"We don't have any desire to be the highest paid."

"Three years ago, I began to ask for a long term contract with…

— Goodberry (@JoeGoodberry) April 2, 2025

This was a post I was looking for as I remembered seeing a trey quote that he wasn't looking to be the highest paid. Seems like he probably wants a big contract but due more to the years.

3 years ago he signed a contract then after a year waned a change, guess he forgot to add that. We still have no clue what has been offered and what he is asking for, in end he is signed for this year, im at point if he sits out , so be it he losses $$ , bengals sack $$

[Nicomo Cosca]

(Yesterday, 03:47 PM)3wt Wrote: The end of the Burrow window is approaching faster than they think.

Yep. Joe even touched on that on the Netflix QB show. He basically said that he blinked and was already through his first 5 years in the league, and that he knows the same thing is going to happen at 10.

Yet they seem determined to keep doing the same old shit. And unfortunately - more than likely - will turn him into Dan Marino 2.0.

[Luvnit2]

(Yesterday, 04:32 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: The post I replied to said "give Trey the years and dollars he wants". So the rest of your post isn't really helpful because you're operating on a different criteria than what we were discussing.

...even if you ignore that part, you're telling Trey it's a good deal to accept 50% of the signing bonus that Twatt got. Taking 1/2 of what your peers get isn't "compromise". 

You maybe correct so choose to pay MB and the team 50K a day missed at TC, then almost 1 million a game for missed games.

I want them to get it done, but Trey will be the big loser in the end. Bengals will not sell one less ticket in 2025 whether Trey plays all 17 games or not. He has zero guarateed money, sit out 10 games and fines equal 10 million bucks between games missed and TC missed. He comes back to get an accrued year, he pays for 6 million for 7 games.

Then Bengals still own his rights.

I get him wanting a lot more, but also he has to understand his situation if he sits out. Nothing changes if they tag him in 2026, he is back to either sitting out or retiring.

He is holding 2-7 and Bengals are holding j-j, he better think long and hard going all in against MB and the Bengals FO with a 2-7.

[Luvnit2]

(Yesterday, 04:38 PM)Essex Johnson Wrote: 3 years ago he signed a contract then after a year waned a change, guess he forgot to add that. We still have no clue what has been offered and what he is asking for, in end he is signed for this year, im at point if he sits out , so be it he losses $$ , bengals sack $$

I am starting to think we should just let him pay us 50K a day while he stays on vacation in Florida.

I know I am in the minority, but worse case scenario he is back week 11 playing for 6 million a year for 7 games and hopefully playoffs. 

The money goes back to our cap so another bonus for the team to carry over to 2026.

[Sled21]

Just to point out in the Super Bowl we lost, and the one we just missed, Trey was on the team.

[Luvnit2]

(Yesterday, 04:57 PM)Sled21 Wrote: Just to point out in the Super Bowl we lost, and the one we just missed, Trey was on the team.

So he was on 2 teams that did well. He has also been on the last 2 years teams who missed the playoffs.

He is also 4 years older than he was in year we lost in the SB.

Simply, yes he is a great pass rusher, but we need a lot of guys to step up to get back to the Super Bowl, all those sacks a year ago ut he could not get the 2 needed to help us wn 2 more games. Look back and our defense lost leads late the past 2 years. It was not just Trey and why others need to step up as well.

[J24]

If the Bengals have no interest in paying Trey then maybe a trade should be actually considered?

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(Yesterday, 04:50 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: You maybe correct so choose to pay MB and the team 50K a day missed at TC, then almost 1 million a game for missed games.

I want them to get it done, but Trey will be the big loser in the end. Bengals will not sell one less ticket in 2025 whether Trey plays all 17 games or not. He has zero guarateed money, sit out 10 games and fines equal 10 million bucks between games missed and TC missed. He comes back to get an accrued year, he pays for 6 million for 7 games.

Then Bengals still own his rights.

I get him wanting a lot more, but also he has to understand his situation if he sits out. Nothing changes if they tag him in 2026, he is back to either sitting out or retiring.

He is holding 2-7 and Bengals are holding j-j, he better think long and hard going all in against MB and the Bengals FO with a 2-7.

And yet missing out on that $10m is still only 1/2 of what he'd miss out on by taking $20m signing bonus instead of $40m.

You say the Bengals are holding J-J, and that's absolutely not true. 

You phrase it like Hendrickson has to be crazy to miss out on $10m... but meanwhile think it's a strong hand and only logical that the Bengals tank an entire season before it even starts rather than pay their star player market value. The Bengals will absolutely lose in the end. They seem to be willing to waste an entire year of their players prime, an entire year on all the rookie contracts, they will waste a year of Joe Burrow's career, and they will be known as a place that won't pay defensive talent so NO defensive free agents will want to come here.

If the Bengals keep lowballing him, he only shows up for the bare minimum required, and then they still tag him in 2026, all the Bengals are showing is that they're willing to tank 2 straight seasons of Joe Burrow's career (4 straight years of missing the playoffs) rather than pay their star player market value. That's not a J-J. 

Plus if they tag him then they need to hold at least $26.5m in cap space unused in case if he ever signs the tag and he has no fines because he's not under contract until he signs. That's the Bengals still losing because they now have a huge chunk of their salary cap dedicated for nothing. For what? To show Trey a what-for? That's more important than actually trying to put together a championship team? Good luck to the Bengals FO explaining that to Joe Burrow.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(Yesterday, 01:33 PM)NUGDUKWE Wrote: I thought Fred also did a decent job of coming up with creative topics to talk about as threads. Maybe all contract talks have pushed all other topics to the side but it's been limited in that regard in my opinion.

I guess there were other things Fred brought to the table, good point. Still, I couldn't stand how someone would make a thread and  
Fred would get in it and just high jack it into another one of his arguments showing he was all stats and not a fan of actually watching 
the damn game.

[Nepa]

One of my concerns (and unknowns) is what Trey seemed to communicate on the Pat McAfee Show, that verbal promises were made to him last year. Specifically, he said ""Three years ago, I began to ask for a long term contract with guaranteed money. ..."It was communicated with me that we'd get something done this year."

I don't know what is said, of course. But I've been concerned that someone in the front office gave him the impression a year ago that he would be well taken care of this year, and that Trey is now dealing with feeling lied to. I'd be pretty ticked off too if I felt someone was manipulating me last year, and I went out and led the league in sacks trusting what was said, and then they reneged.

[*pally*]

Trey has talked to the press more in the last 24 hours than he has in the last 4 years

EXCLUSIVE: Just spoke to Bengals pass rusher Trey Hendrickson, who is currently in Jacksonville, FL. For the last 30 days, he had been at his home in Cincinnati and training.

But as training camp approached, he and his wife decided to leave.

They received two offers in a… pic.twitter.com/evlSdeWlpK

— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) July 22, 2025

 

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(Yesterday, 05:43 PM)Nepa Wrote: One of my concerns (and unknowns) is what Trey seemed to communicate on the Pat McAfee Show, that verbal promises were made to him last year. Specifically, he said ""Three years ago, I began to ask for a long term contract with guaranteed money. ..."It was communicated with me that we'd get something done this year."

I don't know what is said, of course. But I've been concerned that someone in the front office gave him the impression a year ago that he would be well taken care of this year, and that Trey is now dealing with feeling lied to. I'd be pretty ticked off too if I felt someone was manipulating me last year, and I went out and led the league in sacks trusting what was said, and then they reneged.

True, still we don't know what Trey was offered and what he turned down and what his agent was telling him to do.

I heard he was offered 32 mil per year at one time, that is twice what he is being paid now. He just wants more years is what we are hearing.

Trey wanted to get extended last year or be traded the day before the Draft when it was impossible to extend him. Crazy shit man.

[Whatever]

(Yesterday, 04:29 PM)Clark W Griswold Wrote: Yes I could live with it if he fell off to say 11 this year then 8 then 5. That’s the risk you take to try and win it all and that’s still decent sack numbers.  It’s the up to the team to develop the young guys to help him so that in three years they are not relying totally on him and their young edges will
Still be on rookie deals.

Offer 2 years of guarantees and see if he bites. I feel it’s worth the risk because you gambling he will still be productive if not the same all pro he was.

I hard disagree there.

To me, at that point, Trey can show up late, play out the final year of his deal, then walk next year.

We have to remember that Trey is a liability against the run.  The only reason he would command a big money extension is if he's producing at an elite level as a pass rusher.  If he's putting up average starting edge sack numbers, why pay him $32 mil a year?  If he's putting up Sam Hubbard sack numbers, he's not even worth Sam Hubbard money because of his run defense.  

Reality is, this is probably a playoff roster this year, but it's not a win it all roster unless a lot of guys step up big.  Yes, we've seen it happen here before, but this is not a roster you go all in this year and risk the next 2-3. .

I love Trey as a player.  I do hope he retires here.  But the team should have outs if he can't perform as an elite pass rusher if he wants elite APY.