Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - EMERGENCY EPISODE: Trey Hendrickson gets MASSIVE raise to play 2025

Starting point is 00:00:00 Trey Hendrickson has his money. The Bengals have reached an agreement with Trey Hendrickson that will have him on the field for 2025. Let's break it down. You are locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What on Bengals fans? And welcome to another episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:00:33 An emergency edition of the Lockdown. Bengals podcast here. Trey Hendrickson has a new contract or a contract adjustment more accurately from the Cincinnati Bengals that will have him practicing as soon as possible and joining the team for 2025. Welcome back to all of you who make lockdown Bengals part of your everyday routine. Appreciate all the everydayers out there. Appreciate all of you who make us your first listen.

Starting point is 00:00:59 And today we dive into in this second episode of lockdown Bengals, we already did a 53 man roster prediction. And well, we've already got some feedback on that, actually, since we did that episode, James. But now we get to talk about what Trey Hendrickson has agreed to, why it makes sense for both sides, why it doesn't make sense for both sides, and what this means for Trey's future in 2026. And James, let's start with your initial takeaways. Trey is going to be playing. That's obviously good, right? Well, yeah. Let's start there. Is the Bengals, have started the year 0 and 2 in each of the past three seasons 22 23 and 24 they've talked all off season literally since uh january whatever it was when zach taylor fired lu an aruma and the

Starting point is 00:01:47 rest of the coaching staff that he didn't want around anymore and thought they needed to move on he said we have to start faster well it's hard to start faster when you have a distraction and tray didn't want to be a distraction but guess well when your best defensive player isn't playing it's still a distraction it's a distraction to everybody and when when you're hoping your defense is better under Al Golden and significantly better. Guess what? It is a distraction. It's hard to win.

Starting point is 00:02:13 It's hard to get stopped. It's hard to feel like that you can be the defense that I think they're hoping and expecting to be. And so it is huge news. And we're going to dissect this for sure. And this won't be the only time we cover it. But it's huge news to know that Trey Hendricks and the NFL sack leader, an all pro defense event.

Starting point is 00:02:34 a guy who finished second and defensive player of the year last season and has played the best, had the best two-year stretch of his career over the past two seasons, that he's going to be in stripes, happy, ready to go, and have two weeks to practice before that opening game against Cleveland. It's funny, I remember saying like August 22nd is my deadline, kind of in that range. They got pretty close to it.

Starting point is 00:03:01 And there's a lot of not so good, I would say, when it comes to this deal, The good is for the 2025 Cincinnati Bengals, you're going to get a Trey Hendrickson that should be ready to go week one distraction free. I always thought Trey Hendrickson was playing this year. The good is that I guess, you know, it's done earlier that I thought it would be done. I thought we'd be talking about this until next Thursday. And it's nice that it's done now instead of later. He gets to do the whole two weeks of practice, ramp up a little bit.

Starting point is 00:03:33 honestly wouldn't be surprised if he's somewhat limited in that first game of the season from a snap count perspective wouldn't be surprised if he's not limited from a snap count perspective in that first game of the season just because he has missed all of training camp and so they still have all of that not done for trey hendrickson all of that conditioning and all that buildup that tray hendrickson didn't get to do so it wouldn't surprise me if he's somewhat limited in week one from a snap count perspective as they ramp him up But again, like I said, with the way he works, wouldn't surprise me if there's no limitation either. The nitty gritty of this deal, James, is that it is reportedly a $14 million raise for Trey Hendrickson in 2025 with another million dollars in incentives, according to Adam Schaefter. If Trey's out there for at least 60% of the team's defensive snaps and the Bengals make the playoffs,

Starting point is 00:04:24 so it could be a $15 million raise for Trey Hendrickson. it essentially adjusts his previous one-year extension, which was one-year $21 million, and now it's one-year $35 million. You had the $14 million raise. So to me, James, I think Trey wins here, if you had to say one-side wins, one-side loses, whatever it is. Trey gets a raise for a year that he was already under contract

Starting point is 00:04:51 and gives up very little in return. The Bengals must have believed him. when he told them repeatedly he was not going to play this year on his current deal. They also wanted to reward him. I think that's part of it too. But there's not much upside here for the Bengals. They, I guess, don't have any commitments to a player that they're worried about being on the wrong side of 30. I guess that is something they would consider a win.

Starting point is 00:05:21 They get Trey Hendrickson on the field. That's obviously good. Like I said, I think that was going to happen regardless at some point this year. but I have a hard time seeing this as something that isn't Trey Hendrickson at least getting something here. He didn't get what he wanted, which was multiple years of security, but he got something in exchange for playing in a year

Starting point is 00:05:41 that he was already under contract. Sure. And that's the win. He gets paid. He gets to be with his teammates. He gets to play out this year. Here's why the Bengals did it. And why I think it's a win for the Bengals,

Starting point is 00:05:54 it's the opposite for me. They didn't commit anything long. term. They didn't have any problem paying Tray this year. They were worried about paying Tray in 26 and 27, and certainly 27. And if he's good this year, well, guess what? We're right back here. And in that, that's what's surprising to me about the Tray situation. If he has 15 sacks this year, he's not hitting the market. Doesn't mean, I've seen some of the insiders and I think Trace Camp expects, oh, he's going to hit the market. Why would he?

Starting point is 00:06:27 What would lead anyone to believe that he's going to actually become a free agent? That doesn't mean he's going to be on the bankals. Maybe it won't be. Maybe they won't want to deal with it. Maybe they get an asset for him and go that route. But he's still able to get franchise tagged. That tag is going to be reasonable based on projections, comparatively speaking to what Trace contract is and what his demands would be, if he plays really well this year, it would not

Starting point is 00:06:56 shock me. Regardless, and they do have enough cap space to do it, they're projected to have like $64 million in cap space as of now. Obviously, that'll change. So that's what's so interesting to me is he doesn't get that long-term security and it kicks the can down the road. And we're going to be having this discussion if he plays well in February. We are guaranteed. Yeah, that was a big question that I think a lot of people had. Is there a no tag clause in this contract? According to Jordan Schultz. There is no, no tag clause. According to Diana Varsini, the Bengals had a three-year $95 million offer for Trey Hendrickson. That was the multi-year offer. And I think that includes 2025. So that's a two-year extension that would be 2025, 2025, 26, 2027 for a total of

Starting point is 00:07:41 $95 million in new money, plus what he was already in line to make this year, which will put him right around $34, $35 million a year. But when there were no guarantee, in year two, or at least not adequate guarantees in year two, Trey Hendrickson didn't want that. And that sent them back to the drawing board, back to the table, and is why they land on a one-year pay raise, no extension for Trey Hendrickson, that has him in line to be a free agent or get franchise tagged,

Starting point is 00:08:12 and we'll have to talk more about that possibility, because I think that is definitely going to be something that is going to be a consideration next year. the very least to tag and trade in doing this whole song and dance again. Let's continue the conversation around the options that Trey had between the $95 million over three years versus the one-year raise option that he ends up taking, the guaranteed money issue, the franchise tag issue, as we wrap up Trey Hendrickson agreeing to return to the field for the Cincinnati Bengals after he gets a raise coming up next.

Starting point is 00:08:49 This breaking news episode of Lockdown Bengals is brought to you by Yahoo Fantasy. Yahoo Fantasy is perfect for you, me, and anyone else. I've been playing Yahoo Fantasy for years and years and years and you should too, whether you're a first timer or a veteran making your millionth league. And they have new guillotine leagues this year. And that's what's really great about Yahoo Fantasy. They're always evolving. And their guillotine leagues are, well, I'm excited.

Starting point is 00:09:18 I can't say they're awesome yet. I'm expecting them to be awesome. I've never done a guillotine league. But it's a killer new way to play fantasy football on Yahoo, where the lowest scoring team gets eliminated each week until there's one team left standing. It's one of the many 28 big new features over 28 days throughout August that Yahoo Fantasy is celebrating their 28th anniversary.

Starting point is 00:09:38 With the season around the corner, now's the time to get your league together, whether it's a guillotine league, whether it's a classic league, a head-to-head private league, get in on all of the fun right now. And stay tuned for more killer announcements, start playing. playing Yahoo Fantasy Football now at Yahoo! Fantasy.com slash locked on NFL. This episode of Lockdown Bengals also brought to you by Fandul. FanDul has a pretty cool thing coming.

Starting point is 00:10:03 And it's the day after Trey Hendrickson agreed to terms of with the Cincinnati Bengals on August 26th, it is FanDul Futures Day, a brand new holiday for football fans who live for bold predictions and preseason hunches. So now that Trey Hendrickson is for sure going to play this, and for the Cincinnati Bengals, you can get 24 hours of deals on NFL season predictions. So whether it's MVP

Starting point is 00:10:27 and you're looking at Joe Burrough, Super Bowl champion, you have confidence in the Bengals now that you know Trey Hendrickson is playing. Defensive player of the year, you think Trey Hendrickson is going to repeat his awesome year and run away with it this year. You can check all of that out now at fandul.com.

Starting point is 00:10:44 Visit the app today and start planning your future's bets. Now that is August 26th. Tuesday. You might be listening to this on Futures Day for all I know. Check it all out. Fandul app. Plan your futures best now because Futures Day is one day and one day only. Fandul, play your game. Let's get to the tag possibility a bit. And it would be a lot. It's $36 million. So it would be a lot. But there were plenty of rumblings. And I heard this a few weeks ago, like the Bengals were willing to offer him 35 plus million per.

Starting point is 00:11:22 on an extension. And so cap goes up. Tray plays well, can totally see the scenario where the Bengals are like, well, this is an asset that we don't want to lose. And so yeah, not getting the no tag there. I do think that's something that we're going to be talking about, even if they don't use it, that March 4th tag deadline in 2026, Jake, and I already looked it up. It's the 20, it's March 4th at 4 p.m. 26. That's going to be a deadline that we're talking about for sure. Sure. Already putting it in the calendar. And I've seen some disagreement about what the tag number would be. It would not be the $26 million defensive end number that you'll see if you go look at over the cap because it will be 120% of trade salary, his most recent salary, what he's getting paid this year. I've seen it between 36 and 39. I'm trying to figure out what exactly the number would be. As we're recording this, I'm actually talking to some people who would have insight as to what the number would. what number it would be for the math for 120% is essentially what I'm trying to figure out.

Starting point is 00:12:26 But I think there becomes a point where it becomes unpalatable. Like $39 million on the franchise tag is a stick in the month from a cap perspective. That's a lot. 26, very doable. I have a tweet that's currently out there that I'm going to probably have to take down

Starting point is 00:12:44 because I forgot about the 120% rule as we're recording this, James. Yeah, me too. the the number for the tag could actually be prohibitive if it's actually 39 million but would the bengals be interested in a tag and trade possibility that's what i'm curious about sure sure right well why wouldn't they if they had a deal in place and that's something you would have to work i think it's 36 i i initially thought 26 too but you can't you can't go that route.

Starting point is 00:13:23 By that, I'm saying you can't as a player take a pay cut on the tag. And that's why they do the 120% rule. For some reason, I was thinking that was only with the second tag. We've had a lot of experience with the franchise tag, but not in this scenario. What I would say, though, to the people that are skeptical is just understand that last year at this time, T was hoping to become a free agent and things changed in a big way. And so, Trey may have a plan, the Bengals may have a plan. These things can change in a hurry.

Starting point is 00:14:01 And we'll see. I'm still pretty surprised that we're at this spot where it's just this year. Because if Trey was willing to do this a few months ago, I bet the Bengals would have been open to it. I really do. I don't think the Bengals have any problem paying him a bit more this year because they do feel like he deserves it. They were leery of future years and to not lose future years control, even if they don't want to necessarily pay that tag number, you can shop him in Indianapolis at the combine, which isn't something they've necessarily done in the past. But that's what I would do if he goes out and he has 15 sacks again. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:14:39 I think despite all of that, the most likely outcome here is that this is a one. one-year deal for his last year in Cincinnati. And unless it is a kumbaya moment next year and they get an extension done, I am increasingly skeptical as we discussed this, that the franchise tag would be used. We'll see. I mean, obviously, like you said, a lot can change between now and then. And how he plays this season is going to be a big part of that. But it seems likely that this is one last go for it for Trey in Cincinnati and then he is going to eventually be an unrestricted free agent which is what he wanted he'll have a chance to get that long-term security he won't be getting it from the Bengals which i think was was the ideal and yesterday

Starting point is 00:15:27 every sign to me still pointed to a multi-year extension happening which is why when this news happened earlier today for those of you that follow me on social media i was like i'm not buying the raise for for 2025 and I didn't buy it either I didn't buy it either especially with the no tag because that's how it was kind of thrown out there is both and I was like there is no way there is no way they give him a we're promised we won't tag you and a raise they just wouldn't do maybe they would do the no tag or maybe they would do the raise but not both and they obviously did the raise yeah so from the bengal's perspective here they like you said aren't taking the risk for future years for Trey Hendrickson, no risk for 2026, no risk for 2027,

Starting point is 00:16:13 and a potential future debate over franchise tag ideas over tag and trade ideas for next off season and an end to the drama at least for now. We'll have one more day probably where this will come up. Maybe Trey will speak on it, you know, and we'll have, we'll have that instance. And then it is Trey Hendrickson practicing playing football for the Cincinnati Bengals for 2025. And turning down that three-year, $95 million offer that Diana Rossini reported, that was, I believe, again, a two-year extension, which would take his current contract to three total years with $95 million in new money in addition to the $21 million extension, which puts on, like I said, right around $34 million per year. But without knowing what the signing bonus was that was offered to Trey Hendrickson there, James, impossible to know what exactly he turned down in terms of practical guarantees, but with not enough or no salary potentially guaranteed in year two,

Starting point is 00:17:18 Trey Hendrickson wasn't taking it. Then we end up on this compromise instead. What were your thoughts when you saw the reports around what was offered and turned down by Trey Hendrickson? How much was up front? We knew there were no guarantees beyond this year, but you're right, the signing bonus would be key in a deal like that. And I wonder if Trey looked at it and said, all right, if I get to 30 this year and then the tag is 36 next year, that's going to be more than the signing bonus. Like, I don't know.

Starting point is 00:17:51 And also get the chance to potentially get to free agency versus not. But it's a risk. like that that's a risk too I you it's just really hard to speak on it without knowing exactly what the structures but I I had heard that they offered a pretty hefty signing bonus okay that's what I had heard like when when things were starting to to perk up a bit so you never truly know but uh and I don't think if it was that hefty would he have turned it down like I don't know why he would why would you and so it's uh it's tough to

Starting point is 00:18:29 say, though. But yeah, I am surprised that we're here. And we'll see if it works out for both sides. The Bengals get to say they did not break precedent on year two guarantees for players who aren't Joe Burrow or Jamar Chase. And they get to continue their preference for not paying money to players on the wrong side of 30 on big multi-year deals. Trey Hendrickson gets money for this year, has an opportunity to be a free agent next year. Tray Hendrickson will be playing football this year, which the Bengals sorely need. It was never really a question for me, like I've said a few times. Never bought any of the trade hype, James. But a surprising conclusion to this saga, to say the least, that it lands on a one year,

Starting point is 00:19:18 no extension, just a raise to get Tray Hendrickson back into the fold for 2025. Conclusion. I think that can is just being kicked, my friend. We'll see. It's the end of this side. There may be another saga. And we'll see. You look up and Trey has 12 sacks in the first eight weeks.

Starting point is 00:19:38 It's like, oh. Here we go again. Oh, that can is just kicking down the road. Evan, you better kick that thing far, my man. Let's wrap up there. That's going to do it for this bonus slash emergency episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Until next time, which will be after the cut down. Thanks for listening.

Starting point is 00:19:59 today. Have a good.

Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - EMERGENCY EPISODE: Trey Hendrickson gets MASSIVE raise to play 2025

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.