Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the Cincinnati Bengals and Trey Hendrickson are entering an offseason of uncertainty. After the last two offseasons have been surrounded by contract disputes, holdouts, and “bandaid” contracts, many expect the situation to reach some sort of final conclusion when the new league year begins March 11.
We could, however, have more clarity before that. The Bengals could still designate Hendrickson as their franchise player, locking him in to a one-year, fully guaranteed contract that would pay him a reported $34.8 million for 2026.
The Bengals could use the tag on Hendrickson, but should they?
Players generally do not like the franchise tag. While the tag gets them a large sum of money over one season, it doesn’t provide the long-term stability NFL players crave. If a player suffers a major injury, their long-term future is once again in jeopardy after that season ends
Given the Bengals’ tense history with Hendrickson, one would think placing the tag on him would once again make for a public, messy contract dispute, and neither side seems to benefit from that. From Hendrickson’s de facto press conference on the sidelines of a practice to the unfortunate end of Hendrickson’s season due to injury, some sort of absolute resolution makes sense for all parties involved.
With a defense that needs so much help and reports that the team is going to be active in free agency to improve that unit, cutting $30.2 million off of your salary cap space before free agency even begins could handicap them.
On the other hand, from a football perspective, tagging Hendrickson could make sense. Former first-round pick Myles Murphy showed improvement in 2026, but there isn’t much proven production behind him. Joseph Ossai is set to be a free agent, and 2025 first-round pick Shemar Stewart struggled to stay on the field and struggled to make an impact when he was on it.
The Bengals could easily see the value in another one-year rental of Hendrickson strictly due to the need for production. If they want Murphy to continue to develop on one side, but don’t trust Stewart to be effective in a starting role, they do have the right to place the tag on Hendrickson and expect him to play.
There is always the chance that Hendrickson refuses to sign the tag, leading both sides to the same kind of stalemate we saw last season.
Another option the Bengals have is tagging Hendrickson with the intention of trading him. Essentially, the Bengals can use that as a tactic to try to get something in return for Hendrickson, rather than letting him walk and hoping for a compensatory pick from the NFL. That scenario would require a trade partner that is willing to part with enough to satisfy the Bengals and agree to a new contract that would satisfy Hendrickson and his camp as well.
It seems like the two sides are headed toward a split this spring, but with the NFL and the Bengals specifically, anything can happen.
What do you think the Bengals ‘should’ do with Hendrickson? And what do you think ultimately ‘will’ do? Let us know in the comments.