The Bengals are not using a franchise or transition tag on defensive end Trey Hendrickson and that means Hendrickson will be free to move on to another team as a free agent when the new league year gets underway next week.
Hendrickson made it clear that he intends to do exactly that on Tuesday afternoon.
In a post to his Instagram account, Hendrickson expressed gratitude to the Bengals, his teammates, coaches and the team’s fans for his five years in Cincinnati. He called the city home “now and forever” before ending the farewell message.
Hendrickson posted 61 sacks in his 72 regular season games with the Bengals and added 3.5 more during the team’s run to the Super Bowl after the 2021 season. That pass rushing ability should make him a coveted player once teams can start negotiating with free agents around the league next week.
This year, Trey Hendrickson will be able to move on from the Bengals.
According to multiple reports, Cincinnati will not use the franchise tag on Hendrickson before the Tuesday afternoon deadline.
Hendrickson, 31, went through a long negotiation over his contract with the team last offseason, which resulted in Hendrickson getting a raise just before the season. But he did not have any more years added to his deal.
Due to injury, Hendrickson was able to play just seven games in 2025, recording 4.0 sacks with three tackles for loss and eight quarterback hits.
In 2024, Hendrickson made his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl, having recorded a league-leading 17.5 sacks with 19 tackles for loss, and a career-high 36 quarterback hits.
Hendrickson joined the Bengals in 2021 after spending his first four seasons with New Orleans. But at this point, it appears Hendrickson will be headed elsewhere for 2026 after five years with the club.
In 117 career games with 88 starts, Hendrickson has recorded 81.0 sacks with 74 tackles for loss and 163 quarterback hits.
The NFL is a deadline-driven business. And an important annual deadline arrives today.
The two-week window for applying the franchise or transition tag closes at 4:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
There’s really no reason for a two-week period. All that matters is the end, not the beginning. And while there’s some value in applying the tag before the Scouting Combine as a way to short-circuit tampering efforts, only two teams put the word out before things got rolling in Indianapolis that key players would be off-limits — Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts Sr. and Cowboys receiver George Pickens.
Will there be more? Obviously, if any will happen, it will happen today.
The players to watch are Colts quarterback Daniel Jones (and, if they work out a deal with him today, Colts receiver Alec Pierce), Jets running back Breece Hall, and Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson.
If no additional tags are applied, it will be the second straight year with only two. And the two applied in 2025 were the fewest since 2006.
Time will tell. And the clock is ticking. We’ll know at 4:00 p.m. ET who is, and isn’t, blocked from the open market by the franchise or transition tag.
The Bengals got a deal done with right guard Dalton Risner on Monday and Risner credited one of his teammates with helping to pave the way to the agreement.
Risner joined the Bengals last August and made 11 starts in his first year with the team. A number of those starts came with Joe Burrow at quarterback for Cincinnati and Risner said on Monday that he believes the quarterback’s push to keep him in Cincinnati led to the new one-year deal.
“This deal wouldn’t have been done without guys like Joe Burrow. Joe Burrow pushed for me this whole offseason,” Risner said, via the team’s website. “He checked in. He wanted me there. Amarius Mims was outspoken. I had so many people. My offensive line coach. Zac Taylor. I just felt like I had so many people that pulled for me that I don’t think this would have gotten done without them.”
Re-signing Risner means that the Bengals are set to have their five primary offensive linemen back for another season and it stands to reason that Burrow thinks that arrangement will be a good thing for his pass protection during the 2026 season. That would be a good thing for Burrow’s health and having him around for the entire season should also be a plus for the Bengals as a whole.
Dalton Risner joined the Bengals shortly before the start of the 2025 season, but he won’t be waiting nearly as long to make his plans for 2026.
Risner’s wife announced on X.com Monday that her husband will remain with the Bengals. Risner is listed as No. 81 on PFT’s list of this year’s top free agents.
No terms of Risner’s agreement with the Bengals were included in his wife’s announcement.
Risner signed with the Bengals in late August and made 11 starts at right guard during the 2025 season. Risner started 19 games in two seasons with the Vikings before moving on to Cincinnati and started 62 games for the Broncos over his first four seasons in the league.
UPDATE 9:13 a.m. ET: Risner’s agents announced that it is a one-year deal worth up to $5 million.
