Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson Details Why His Extension Means So Much Beyond the Dollars

Within a span of hours, Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson went from fighting with the team’s highest-paid offensive lineman and being removed from the drill to posing for a photo in the team’s conference room with a big smile on his face, an extra $21 million under his pen and the scars from his tussle with Orlando Brown Jr. visible on his neck despite a popped collar on his quarter-zip pullover.

Trey Hendrickson Talks What Extension Means to Him

The Bengals rewarded Hendrickson for outperforming the four-year, $60 million contract he signed in March 2021, bumping him to the front of the long line of players looking for new deals, such as quarterback Joe Burrow, wide receiver Tee Higgins and linebacker Logan Wilson, among others.

“I want to stay a Bengal,” Hendrickson said with the gruesome marks on his neck even more pronounced above a tight-fitting, collar-less shirt.

“They gave me a tremendous opportunity two years ago,” Hendrickson continued. “There was a lot of question marks around my name. They believed in me. And I still have the same desire to prove them right in the way they’ve invested in me. And that’s not something I take lightly. I have a tremendous amount of respect for them. And the way they handle things, the organization, the way they care about people.”

That last part is something Hendrickson values. He doesn’t do interviews on a regular basis, yet he might lead the league in the number of times he mentions and thanks his wife, Alisa, when he stands before cameras and microphones.

He did so multiple times Thursday.

“This is a family-run organization. They ask me about my wife’s personal life, how she’s doing with work after graduating from doctorate school in pharmacy at Lipscomb University. Just amazing people, and I’m fortunate to be in this building for an extra year,” Hendrickson said. “So it means a lot that they care about my personal life also.”

Hendrickson, 28, has recorded 22 sacks in his first two seasons with the Bengals, ranking eighth in the NFL during that span. He ranks sixth in pressures with 80, trailing only Nick Bosa (104), Myles Garrett (90), Maxx Crosby (89), Micah Parson (88), and Matthew Judon (82). Hendrickson also has six forced fumbles, which is tied for sixth, just two shy of Shaquille Leonard and Bosa’s league lead.

But before Thursday’s deal, Hendrickson’s annual average salary of $15 million ranked 18th among edge rushers. The one-year, $21 million extension comes with an $8 million signing bonus on top of the $9.8 million he was due this year. More importantly, it gives Hendrickson more security.

Under the original deal, Hendrickson’s 2024 cap hit of $17.5 million would have been the second highest on the team, and the Bengals only would have had to absorb $2.5 million in dead money had they decided to release him to free up room for what are expected to be massive deals for Burrow and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, who is eligible for an extension next season.

Hendrickson will be 30 when the added 2025 season begins, not turning 31 until December of that year.

Extensions typically run longer than one season, unless it’s a case where the current contract already has expired. But Hendrickson doesn’t have to look too deep to understand why a one-year extension made sense in this case. A quick glance at the defensive linemen occupying the lockers to his left and his right says it all.

“There’s a lot of great players in this locker, and there’s a lot that’s always going to be unknown,” Hendrickson said. “I have two years in that current deal that I have to play out as well. So it made sense to kind of go take this one-year-at-a-time kind of thing. But again, to have another year in a great city, it’s a lot of fun. Bengals, Reds — there’s something about Cincinnati.”

As for the marks on his neck, he said they came from others grabbing his jersey from behind to keep him from racing back into the fray with Brown.

“Just a dog on a leash,” he joked.

Hendrickson always wears a thick chain in practice and in games. And the jersey compressing, coupled with the friction of the chain, left marks that he said don’t feel nearly as bad as they look.

“There was a little bit of shock and awe when I came home to my wife,” Hendrickson said. “Everything took care of itself. There was nothing serious. I love to compete. I love the back and forth, so it was fun getting into it with him. On to the next. We’ve had multiple conversations. The end goal is to get us better, and we’re probably going to have to limit those altercations.”