Cincinnati Bengals star Trey Hendrickson is in the midst of an ugly contract dispute and has threatened to sit out the 2025 season if he doesn’t receive the pay raise he’s demanding.
Hendrickson will earn just under $19 million this season, a far cry from what the top edge rushers will make this year after a flurry of deals that have reset the market.
Myles Garrett is making $40 million per season. Nick Bosa and Maxx Crosby are around $35 million per year. So, yeah, Hendrickson needs a bump in pay after leading the Bengals with 17.5 sacks in each of the last two years.
The Bengals have shown a willingness to pay up for their stars, inking quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to monster extensions. But Hendrickson is still waiting for his new deal, one that Vice President JD Vance recently said he deservs.
Yeah, Hendrickson got that level of support.
“Hendrickson is worth it, dude. He’s a generational talent,” Vance said via This Past Weekend Podcast with Theo Von. “It’s very hard to get a guy like that. It’s kind of crazy how, like, I’m a big football fan, but edge rushers have become… It’s almost like where left tackles were 10 or 15 years ago, where everybody just realized there’s this really underpaid position that you gotta have. And so, yeah, I think we’re gonna have to pay Hendrickson.”
It’s hard to argue with Vance’s take. Hendrickson is the most important player on a defense that’s in the process of becoming an average unit in 2025. Without their sack leader, there’s no chance of accomplishing that goal.
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