Field Level Media
04 Mar 2026, 02:49 GMT+10
(Photo credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images)
The Cincinnati Bengals will not franchise tag star defensive end Trey Hendrickson, according to multiple reports ahead of Tuesday's deadline, making the four-time Pro Bowler a free agent.
Teams had until Tuesday afternoon to issue franchise or transition tags to players eligible to become free agents next week.
Hendrickson's 2025 season was shortened by core muscle surgery in December. He last played on Oct. 26 and totaled only seven games (all starts).
Hendrickson finished with 16 tackles, including four sacks and three tackles for loss, as well as one forced fumble and eight quarterback hits. He played 59% of the defensive snaps.
Hendrickson, 31, entered 2025 with an NFL-best 35 total sacks over the previous two years.
He had spent the offseason ahead of the 2025 slate in a standoff with the Bengals over the lack of a contract extension. He requested a trade, but Cincinnati eventually coaxed him out of a holdout posture with a $14 million raise that pushed his salary to $30 million.
Hendrickson has 81 career sacks in 117 games with the New Orleans Saints (2017-20) and Bengals. He was selected to the Pro Bowl in four consecutive seasons (2021-24) and was first-team All-Pro in 2024.
New Orleans selected Hendrickson in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft out of Florida Atlantic.
--Field Level Media
Get a daily dose of San Jose Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to San Jose Sun.
More Information(Photo credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images) The Cincinnati Bengals will not franchise tag star defensive end Trey Hendrickson, according...
(Photo credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images) The Minnesota Vikings are open to trading outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard as...
(Photo credit: Peter Creveling-Imagn Images) Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and current player Terry Rozier are among...
(Photo credit: Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK) Tennessee Tech fired men's basketball coach John Pelphrey on Tuesday...
(Photo credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images) The busiest week in professional golf so far this year features the third signature event...
(Photo credit: David Banks-Imagn Images) Mets right-hander Nolan McLean has improved following vertigo-like symptoms that put his...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stock markets ended Tuesday's session deep in negative territory, with all major indices posting substantial...
SAN FRANCISCO, California: OpenAI announced it is raising US$110 billion in new funding, valuing the ChatGPT maker at $840 billion...
MILAN, Italy: A string of court rulings against food delivery platforms in Italy has yet to significantly improve conditions for riders,...
BANGKOK, Thailand: Financial technology firm Block is cutting more than 4,000 jobs, roughly 40 percent of its workforce, as it restructures...
NEW YORK, New York - Wall Street delivered a mixed performance on Monday as escalating military conflict in the Middle East, following...
SEOUL, South Korea: South Korea has approved the export of high-precision map data to overseas servers, clearing the way for Google...
