We’re getting closer and closer to NFL free agency, and the Cincinnati Bengals have 16 players with expiring contracts. Who will re-sign with the team, and who will leave when the 2026 league year begins? We’ll go through all impending free agents before the madness begins.
For the second consecutive year, the Bengals have arguably the top free agent set to hit the market. Tee Higgins was a special case in 2025, and the elite name in the spotlight a year later will end up walking down a different path.
Trey Hendrickson
Position: Defensive end
Age for 2027 Season: 32
Incoming NFL Year: 10th
Previous AAV: $29 million
2026 Snap %: 26.2%
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Trey Hendrickson signed a four-year free agent contract to join Cincinnati during the 2021 offseason after spending his first four seasons with the New Orleans Saints. His impact was immediately felt with the Bengals, making the first of what would be four Pro Bowls in 2021, and achieving a career-high 14 sacks. His production took a bit of dip in 2022, and after signing a one-year, $21 million extension in the 2023 offseason, he put together his best season with 17.5 sacks and 16 tackles for loss.
Hendrickson’s extension was a bit of a surprise, but later revealed to be a compromise the club was able to achieve with him. He really wanted a pay raise featuring future guaranteed money, and that desire persisted in 2024 when he requested a trade. Cincinnati kept him around and he managed to replicate his previous season with another 17.5 sacks. This time, he ended up the NFL’s sack leader, a First Team All-Pro, and finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
The gloves came off in 2025 as Hendrickson requested another trade and sat out the entire offseason in the hopes of securing the long-term deal he had wanted for years since accepting a far-too-team friendly contract in 2021. The end result was a worse compromise for him than before; a $13 million raise that made Hendrickson play out a contract year. He only played in seven games due to a back/hip injury that required core muscle surgery in December.
Contract History and Projection
Hendrickson signed three contracts with the Bengals. His first was a four-year, $60 million deal featuring $16 million in guarantees. His second was the one-year, $21 million deal with $8 million guaranteed. His third was the revised one-year, $29 million deal with $20 million guaranteed.
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Spotrac.com’s calculated market value for Hendrickson is a two-year, $50,898,112 contract, which would rank 53rd among all NFL players in terms of Average Annual Value (AAV).
Prediction
The safest prediction you can make about the Bengals’ offseason is they will not be signing Hendrickson to a new multi-year contract. The deal he’s looking for will not be offered by the club he’s been with for the past five years. The only way he will still be in Cincinnati is if he receives the franchise tag, as he’s the Bengals’ only logical candidate for the tag. Players with his market value are valuable to either keep around, or use as a trade piece.
Should the tag be placed on Hendrickson, the most likely scenario is for Cincinnati to trade him to another team that wants to sign him to a long-term contract. A tag-and-trade has happened four times this decade, and not since the Kansas City Chiefs trade cornerback L’Jarius Snead to the Tennessee Titans for a third-round pick in 2024.
Will the Bengals be able to pull of such a move while also focusing on adding players to the team, or do they think they can agree to a trade before the tampering window begins? Either path makes the tag a reasonable first step for Hendrickson, as trading him instead of letting him walk would likely net a player or NFL Draft pick for this year. It would be an aggressive move made by a team looking to win now.
The safe bet is Hendrickson is allowed to walk in free agency and find the deal he missed so much time for last year. Placing the tag on him and not being able to move him would be a huge detriment for what they should want to accomplish next month.
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Bengals Free Agent Profiles
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This story was originally published by A to Z Sports on Feb 16, 2026, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.