Bengals Roster Breakdown: Trey Hendrickson has no equal in Cincinnati's defense

Throughout the summer leading up to the regular season, we will go through the entire 2024 Cincinnati Bengals roster. Every single day until the season opener against the New England Patriots, we will break down a player on the roster including his background, contract status, and path towards making the team.Today, we stay in Pro […]

John Sheeran — Cincinnati Bengals News Writer
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Trey Hendrickson
© Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

Throughout the summer leading up to the regular season, we will go through the entire 2024 Cincinnati Bengals roster. Every single day until the season opener against the New England Patriots, we will break down a player on the roster including his background, contract status, and path towards making the team.

Today, we stay in Pro Bowl territory to discuss Bengals edge defender Trey Hendrickson. Of the many great free agent acquisitions Cincinnati has made in recent years, Hendrickson might be the most valuable. He's undoubtedly the best player the Bengals have on defense. How will he build off the best year of his career?

Trey Hendrickson

  • Age: 29
  • Year: 8th
  • Position: Right edge defender
  • College: Florida Atlantic 
  • Previous Teams: New Orleans Saints
  • Jersey Number: 91

Hendrickson was drafted by the Saints with the 103rd overall pick in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He spent four years at Florida Atlantic and played in all 48 possible games during his time with the Owls. He spent most of his freshman year in 2013 on special teams and became a starter late in his sophomore year in 2014. He showed out his junior year in 2015 as a full-time starter with 13.5 sacks and 15 tackles for loss. He added another 9.5 sacks and 15 tackles for loss in his senior year in 2016 and earned First Team All-Conference USA honors as well as the conference's Defensive MVP award. His 29.5 career sacks are an FAU record.

It took two years for Hendrickson to start in college, and it took three to start in the NFL. The Saints used Hendrickson off the bench during the majority of his rookie contract. After a strong end to the 2019 season, Hendrickson earned the starting right edge gig for 2020 and had his best season in New Orleans with 13.5 sacks in 15 games. Four of those sacks came against Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes. The Saints allowed Hendrickson to test free agency, and the Bengals won a bidding way for his services over the New York Jets.

Hendrickson's four-year, $60 million deal was the largest contract the Bengals had ever given to an unrestricted free agent until Orlando Brown's deal came two years later. It soon proved to be a wonderful investment as Hendrickson became one of the central catalysts towards the Bengals' defensive renaissance. He posted 14 sacks, including at least a half-sack in 11-straight games for a franchise record, and tacked on 3.5 more in four postseason games including Super Bowl LVI. He earned the first of what's become three-straight Pro Bowl nods. His sack total dropped to eight in 2022, but his pass rush win rate jumped three percentage points to 17.9% from 14.9%.

Hendrickson came to the Bengals for a pay raise and extension leading up to the 2023 offseason and both sides settled on a one-year extension. What followed was the Pro Bowler's best season yet as he finished second in the league with 17.5 sacks, which was also, obviously, a career-high. It was also the first time he played a full-17 game slate for Cincinnati. 

Extending Hendrickson right before his best season led to a briefly tense period this offseason. Hendrickson requested a trade after coming back to the front office for a larger pay raise not even a year after he signed his extension. His trade request was soon rescinded as he became a full participant during OTAs and minicamp. 

"The production side is … I'm not asking for like a great business decision," Hendrickson said. "I know that asking ownership, there's not a lot of ways to cut it. I just know what I can do and how I can do it. And I think my tape has proven that over the last four years as a starter, and at the end of the day, I understand the business side and I'm not asking for good business decisions."

Contract details

Hendrickson signed a one-year, $21 million extension last offseason that will keep him under contract through the 2025 season. He will earn a base salary of $14.8 million for the 2024 season. He can also earn up to $200,000 in per game roster bonuses.

Due to $5,166,666 of his signing bonus being prorated on the books this year, Hendrickson's cap number for this season is $20,166,666.

Roster outlook

Hendrickson would surely like another extension in the near future, but that may have to wait until next offseason. In the meantime, the Bengals will focus on how they can properly supplement the pass-rushing production he consistently provides.

Keeping Hendrickson fresh for the postseason is a high priority for the team. He's averaged 696 regular season snaps over the past three years. Ideally, he comes off the field more often early in the year, and his workload increases during the playoff push so he's ready to go all out in the playoffs. This is why Myles Murphy's injury was so unfortunate, and why the arrival of KJ Henry is so welcomed. 

But make no mistake. When the Bengals need a sack, "Blackout Trey" will be out there striking fear in the opposing left tackle. 

Projected role: Starting right edge defender

Previous player breakdowns

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