NFL Rumors: Trey Hendrickson, Bengals Contract Talks 'Quiet' amid Holdout, Trade Buzz

Despite getting deals done with Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, the Cincinnati Bengals haven't aggressively turned their attention to working things out with Trey Hendrickson.

Appearing on the Friday morning episode of SportsCenter, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler described talks between Hendrickson and the Bengals as "quiet" right now:

"I'm told the talks between the Bengals and Trey Hendrickson are quiet right now. They tried to reignite things last week on a contract extension, talked through a few days, exchanged the potential offers, couldn't reach an agreement as of now. Also, the Bengals have not shown an eagerness to trade Trey Hendrickson despite some clear interest from teams looking for a pass rusher at a premium spot. And so right now, this is at a stagnation point. The Bengals do want to pay Hendrickson. They made him contract offers, but they are not in the eyes of the player commensurate with his skill set as a guy who has 35 sacks over the last two years. The pass-rush market has exploded well above $35 million per year right now, so that's the rub right now. The team is going to continue to try; their goal all along has been to lock up all three stars, Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Trey Hendrickson."

Fowler reported earlier this week that "it's entirely possible" Hendrickson could decide to sit out the entire 2025 season if he doesn't land a new contract.

Any notion of a player skipping games, thus losing paychecks, is far-fetched. Myles Garrett was reportedly willing to sit out games in 2025 if he didn't get traded by the Cleveland Browns two days before he agreed to an extension.

It did happen last season when Hasson Reddick's holdout with the New York Jets lasted through the team's first seven games before the two sides agreed to an adjusted contract.

The Bengals gave Hendrickson and his representatives permission to seek a trade amid their ongoing contract standoff. There's some doubt that they are actually entertaining moving the NFL's 2024 sack leader.

Per The Athletic's Ben Standig, the Bengals want "at minimum" a first-round pick back in a trade for Hendrickson, but there's also a feeling they have "a lack of interest" in moving him.

Having secured the nucleus of their offense by extending Chase and Higgins to play with Joe Burrow, fixing the defense has to be Cincinnati's top priority for the rest of this offseason.

There's virtually no one the Bengals could get who will be as impactful for their defense as Hendrickson. He was an All-Pro first-team selection last season after recording 36 quarterback hits and 17.5 sacks.

Since joining the Bengals as a free agent in March 2021 after spending four seasons with the New Orleans Saints, Hendrickson's 57 sacks are the third-most in the NFL.

Hendrickson is set to earn $15.8 million in base salary next season, the final year of his current contract. His $21 million average annual salary ranks 10th among all edge rushers.

Cincinnati's defense finished 25th in points allowed last season. It was the team's worst ranking in that category since 2019 when it finished 2-14 and earned the No. 1 pick in the draft that was used to select Burrow.