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Bengals general manager Duke Tobin shared his thoughts on Trey Hendrickson’s upcoming free agency
The Cincinnati Bengals are facing an important free agency and draft period as the team hopes to improve after their worst season since 2020. Defensively, the team took a step back as they finished with the third-most points allowed.
The Bengals’ defense has gotten progressively worse since the 2022 season, where they finished as the fifth-best defense in the NFL. Cincinnati has now finished in the bottom 12 in points allowed per game for three consecutive seasons. In those three seasons, the team has failed to overcome their struggling defense as they have missed the postseason in all three years.
With over $50 million in available cap space and a top-10 pick in the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft, the Bengals have a chance of improving their defense this offseason. However, perhaps the best move the team could make is retaining one of its own players, who has been among the best defenders in the NFL since joining the Bengals in 2020.
Bengals General Manager Comments on Trey Hendrickson
The Trey Hendrickson saga is not new. Prior to the 2025 season the Bengals gave him permission to seek a trade as he hoped to land a new contract with the team or elsewhere. On that occasion, the Bengals agreed to a revised one-year contract, but now the pass rusher is set to be an unrestricted free agent.
One option the Bengals have is allowing Hendrickson to seek a trade again; however, that would require Cincinnati to place the franchise tag on him. General manager Duke Tobin was asked about that possibility and said, “I don’t throw anything off on or off the table with Trey, and we’re excited about attacking this offseason.”
Tobin then added, “We have resources to attack the offseason in a big way, and we want to do that in terms of how we’re going to do that, how we’re going to allocate our resources. You know, who is going to be on our own free agents, what are our intentions there? I’m not going to get into that right here. It’s just not the time to announce that to the rest of the league.”
Cincinnati Bengals Offseason
Regarding the offseason as a whole, Tobin said, “We’re going to attack it, and try to build our roster from all sources. And the draft is one of those sources. Free agency is another. Perhaps, re-signing some of our impending free agents to extensions so they don’t get to free agency is another way to do it. But we’re going to look at all areas, and we’re going to try to attack this offseason and fit our needs with the right people. And that’s what our focus is, and we’re excited about it because we have resources to go out and do some things.”
Previously, Sports Illustrated’s Russell Heltman called the saga with Hendrickson last season a “headache-filled offseason of negotiations.” However, despite popular belief, Tobin has not ruled out the Bengals retaining their talented pass rusher. In five seasons with the Bengals, Hendrickson has totaled 61 sacks and been named to the Pro Bowl four times.
Jose Esquer Jose Esquer is a Mexican-American sportswriter and communications student based in San Diego, CA. His work spans football, basketball, baseball, and soccer. He has written for platforms like RotoWire and DolphinsTalk. You can find him on Twitter/X @JEsquer8, usually talking Dolphins, world football, or both. More about Jose Esquer
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