Trey Hendrickson stuck in limbo of Bengals offer and trade price

The Cincinnati Bengals and pass rusher Trey Hendrickson have been stuck as far as what their future looks like.

Hendrickson and his representation were given permission to seek a trade to a team willing to pay him, but the most recent news isn’t good for Hendrickson.

Here’s what NFL reporter Aaron Wilson had to say.

For what it’s worth, NFL Network reporter Tom Pelissero says the Bengals continue to maintain dialogue with Hendrickson’s agency. Pelssiero also thinks the Bengals could make a bigger push to extend Hendrickson once Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins get their contract extensions done.

There have been rumors that teams have been willing to give Hendrickson a better deal than what the Bengals have on the table, but they aren’t also willing to reach the trade price. Cincinnati is notorious for needing to “win” trades involving franchise players (see the Carson Palmer situation). The rumored asking price is more than a first-round pick, which makes it hard for a team to dish out the dough and draft capital.

The Bengals also seem to have made progress with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, which could provide cap relief as both are taking up over $20 million in cap space on their fifth-year option and franchise tag, respectively. That could allow the Bengals to have more room for Hendrickson.

That is an optimistic view. Odds are the Bengals and Hendrickson will wait for the other to blink. Hendrickson could opt to stay in Cincinnati on whatever deal they have offered or holdout and hope to put more pressure on the team looking to improve their defense.

Either way, it doesn’t seem like a conclusion is close at the moment. The draft might be the next serious deadline prior to training camp. It’d be surprising to see the Bengals lower their trade expectation for the pass rusher.