Trey Hendrickson drama has reached a new level and the Bears should avoid making such a financially irresponsible move for 2025 and beyond
The Trey Hendrickson situation between the Cincinnati Bengals and the reigning sack leader is far from over, a reached an entirely new level on Tuesday.Hendrickson arrived to team facilities, surprisingly, for voluntary workouts amid contract disputes with the team and even took considerable time to speak with the media in attendance.Hendrickson noted he does not […]
The Trey Hendrickson situation between the Cincinnati Bengals and the reigning sack leader is far from over, a reached an entirely new level on Tuesday.
Hendrickson arrived to team facilities, surprisingly, for voluntary workouts amid contract disputes with the team and even took considerable time to speak with the media in attendance.
Hendrickson noted he does not plan to play on his current deal in 2025 and gave all the logic needed to support his decision.
"If I sat here with four sacks, I think they'd want a little back, right?" Hendrickson said. "And that is fair to me, and I think it's fair to all 53 other players that play. The other way, I don't think they see as fair. I'm not going to apologize for the rates of the defensive ends being paid in the National Football League."
Hendrickson is set to make $15.8 million in base salary for the 2025 season in an edge market that has sky-rocketed this offseason. The Bengals star pass rusher received a one-year extension in 2023, but his new number no longer matches the going rate for a top of the league pass rusher.
Hendrickson noted before that he's not looking to become the highest-paid defensive end in the league, a bar that was set earlier this offseason when Cleveland Browns star Myles Garrett reached a mammoth four-year, $160 million deal.
If the bridge is nearly burnt with the Bengals (Hendrickson did say the relationship could be mended), Cincinnati could explore moving him to a better situation.
Bears continue to be mentioned as a team to watch
Multiple teams have been linked to Hendrickson on the trade market, including the Chicago Bears who elected not to draft a defensive end in the 2025 NFL Draft.
The Bears, however, did sign Dayo Odeyingbo to a 3-year, $48 million deal in free agency while still paying top dollar to Montez Sweat at the position. When asked if finding another edge rusher was a priority, general manager Ryan Poles discussed the versatility of guys such as Gervon Dexter Sr. and rookie Shemar Turner.
After rookie minicamp this weekend in Chicago, defensive coordinator Dennis Allen shared the plan for the time being is to keep Turner, the team's second-round pick, on the inside before moving him around the defensive front.
“The first thing we got to do is we got to play him in at defensive tackle and let him learn there, let him develop there, both as a three-technique and a nose, and then we’ll worry about trying to see that flexibility," Allen explained.
While the team could still be comfortable with Sweat, Odeyingbo, Dexter, and 2024 fifth-round pick Austin Booker off the edge, opportunities like this don't come around often to land a player like Hendrickson.
The Bears currently have seven picks in the 2026 NFL Draft, one in each round of the draft thanks to the maneuvering in the 2025 Draft. The team has the arsenal needed to make a trade a reunite Hendrickson with Allen (who played the first four years of his career in New Orleans under Allen). But, that's only half the equation.
Could the Bears afford Hendrickson in 2025 and beyond?
This is where things get tricky for the Bears. Right now, the team doesn't have nearly enough cap space to even get through the season, much less inheriting a new deal for a top pass rusher, but there's easy ways to make some space.
The Bears are working to extend left guard Joe Thuney, which will hopefully open some space in 2025, and can restructure some top deals with players like Sweat and wide receiver DJ Moore to create some relief.
The problem is, a new deal for Hendrickson would likely have to be backloaded for a player who is already 30-years-old. And doing so would require some 2026 contract work, with the likely cuts/trades being running back D'Andre Swift, linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, and tight end Cole Kmet.
Would Hendrickson put the Bears' defense over the top? The short answer is yes, even though in the long run it wouldn't be the best financial decision for the front office to make. At the end of the day, it never hurts to make a phone call to see how much we're talking about to land a player like him.
And even if the price is too much, there's still some productive pass rushers out there on the open market that would be a much more financially responsible to add someone else off the edge to this roster.
