Trey Hendrickson isn’t trying to reset the edge rusher market on his next contract. The 33rd Team’s Ari Meirov gave more insight into the negotiations between Hendrickson and the Bengals this week.
Barbs were traded in the media across recent days, with Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn saying the pass rusher “should be happy at certain rates that maybe he doesn’t think he’d be happy at.” He clapped back by saying “communication has been poor” between the two sides.
Trey is not looking to become the highest-paid pass rusher ever, highest-paid-non-quarterback,” Meirov said on NFL Spotlight with Ari Meirov. “He just wants to be fairly compensated. I think that $32-33-34 million per year range, maybe $35 million is kind of where he’s looking at and then there’s the structure. And he doesn’t want to do a one-year deal. He doesn’t want to do a multi-year deal where there are incentives he has to reach to make his money. He wants it to be a true extension.”
Hendrickson knows his $16 million salary for 2025 will get lumped into a new extension, so he wants to avoid a heavy-incentive-laden structure.
“Trey is not looking to become the highest-paid pass rusher ever, highest-paid-non-quarterback,” Meirov said on NFL Spotlight with Ari Meirov. “He just wants to be fairly compensated. I think that $32-33-34 million per year range, maybe $35 million is kind of where he’s looking at and then there’s the structure. And he doesn’t want to do a one-year deal. He doesn’t want to do a multi-year deal where there are incentives he has to reach to make his money. He wants it to be a true extension.”
Hendrickson knows his $16 million salary for 2025 will get lumped into a new extension, so he wants to avoid a heavy-incentive-laden structure.
I’ll tell you right now, the offers that have been made have been well below where the pass rush market is,” Meirov noted.
This saga could drag on into the summer with no clear deadline to get a deal done given Hendrickson still has a year left on his current contract.
