By Dianna Russini, Paul Dehner Jr. and RJ Kraft

The Cincinnati Bengals have given defensive end Trey Hendrickson permission to seek a trade, according to a league source.

With the team looking to sign wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to long-term extensions, Hendrickson appears to be the odd man out in the Bengals’ offseason contract priorities. Earlier this week, Higgins was given the franchise tag by the team to keep him from hitting the free agent negotiation period Monday. As The Athletic previously reported, the team has made a long-term offer to Chase, but the two sides remain far apart for now on a contract that is expected to reset the non-quarterback market, according to league sources.

Hendrickson is coming off of a season in which he led the league with 17.5 sacks, finished second in the Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year voting and was named a first-team All-Pro. He was second in the league in sacks in 2023 with 17.5 sacks. In all four of his seasons in Cincinnati, the 30-year-old has been a Pro Bowl selection.

While under contract for 2025 and set to count $18.6 million against the cap from an extension signed two years ago, Hendrickson had been seeking a new deal. Additionally, he had requested a trade last summer but ultimately backed down and reported to the offseason program ahead of his All-Pro season.

At the NFL Scouting Combine last week, Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin discussed if the team would entertain trading the star defensive end.

“Our preference with Trey is to have him on our football team because we want him,” Tobin said. “So I never really talked about open preferences for trading guys, because all that does is take on a life of its own. And that’s not something I want to do, because I want Trey on our football team. He’s under contract. We’re looking to pay him for what we believe will be really good future years and we see him as not falling off in his career. That’s why we’re actively trying, and if we get to the point where we’re actively trying to trade him, maybe I’ll give you a call.”

Hendrickson was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He had a breakout year in his fourth and final season with the Saints — recording 13.5 sacks. That season led him to earning a four-year deal worth $60 million from the Bengals. Since the start of the 2020 season, Hendrickson has the third-most sacks (70.5) in the league — behind only T.J. Watt and Myles Garrett.

Why would the Bengals trade Hendrickson?

There are multiple factors at play for the Bengals to entertain trade offers in Cincinnati. One of the biggest is they have prioritized Higgins and Chase in the pecking order of their stars they are looking to reward with long-term extensions. Hendrickson is deserving of an extension as well and the Bengals don’t appear willing to go near the top of the market, where Nick Bosa and now Maxx Crosby currently reside around $35 million per year.

Hendrickson will turn 31 in December and despite racking up 35 sacks combined the last two seasons, they are going young on defense with new coordinator Al Golden. They also have multiple holes to fill on that defense and the $16 million extra available if Hendrickson were traded could go toward supplementing the rest of the line. In a draft flush with defensive line prospects, an extra pick or two along with a clear path for 2023 first-round pick Myles Murphy to have more playing time could go a long way to flipping the defense forward after an abysmal 2024 season. — Paul Dehner Jr., Bengals beat writer

What would trade compensation look like?

There’s no precedent for a first-round pick coming back for Hendrickson. No defensive player at his age has ever fetched a first-round pick in a trade. That said, he just finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting and would be an immediate game-wrecker off the edge for a team in need and willing to pay near top of the market.

That profile should probably fetch the equivalent of a second-round pick for a willing participant based on history. Knowing the Bengals, they would likely want another Day 3 pick thrown into the deal before signing off. A collection of recent edge rusher trade comparisons (see below) offers a solid idea of expected return. — Dehner

Required reading

(Photo: Dylan Buell / Getty Images)