Trey Hendrickson’s new contract with Bengals includes unexpected details for this year and 2026
Hendrickson’s new pay raise also has future implications.
Trey Hendrickson will indeed be making an additional $14 million while playing for the Cincinnati Bengals this season, but his salary cap hit will not go up by nearly that much.
Per ESPN’s Field Yates, Hendrickson’s 2025 cap hit will only increase by $3 million as the club included a void year for next year.
What the details of Trey Hendrickson’s new contract means
Hendrickson’s cap hit was originally $18,666,668, so it will now be just under $22 million instead.
The inclusion of the void year for 2026 is what prevented the cap hit from ballooning to a much higher amount. A void year is essentially a vehicle to prorate signing bonus money into future year(s). Their 2025 cap space will be spared at the cost of their 2026 cap space taking a hit. Even if Hendrickson is off the team next year, part of their cap space will still have his name on it.
The question is…why?
Cincinnati entered this week with just under $30 million in cap space. The club typically exits a season with around $10 million in space. Hendrickson’s contract was the last deal that was going to greatly impact the Bengals’ cap situation for this year, and even without the void year included, they would’ve entered the season with about as much space as they’re accustomed to having at this point on the calendar.
The answer could lie in potential plans for next season. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that placing the franchise tag on Hendrickson next season would cost the team $34.8 million.
By keeping Hendrickson’s current cap number lower than expected, Cincinnati has also made a potential franchise-tagging a slightly more affordable move. The tag would’ve cost closer to $40 million otherwise.
Tagging Hendrickson would obviously not be in his best interest. The reason why he accepted his $14 million pay raise for this year is because he wasn’t able to secure future guarantees in a multi-year offer. Getting hit with the tag next year would put him in the same predicament.
The Bengals will also be able to carry over more unused cap space from this season into next. That could also provide the space they may deem necessary to fit a Hendrickson tag into their plans.
This particular structure has pretty obvious future implications for Cincinnati. We’ll find out next year what it all means.
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