Where Trey Hendrickson plays next season isn't clear, but it likely won't be for the Bengals. 

• Ben BabyJan 19, 2026, 06:05 AM ET

CINCINNATI -- By the time the Cincinnati Bengals reached halftime of their Week 6 game against the Green Bay Packers, half of the team's plan to attack the season was in shambles.

Cincinnati was without star quarterback Joe Burrow, who was recovering from a turf toe injury that forced him to miss nine games. But the other half of the plan was about to fall apart, too.

Trey Hendrickson, the team's star defensive end, left the game early because of what was initially deemed a back injury. Over time, the nature of the injury became increasingly vague. But what it meant for the future was not.

He missed 10 games because of what was later ruled to be a core injury that required surgery. And with the former All-Pro and Pro Bowl player set to enter free agency, Cincinnati will spend the offseason figuring out how to retool its pass rush. And that is top of mind for Bengals de facto general manager Duke Tobin as the team prepares for a critical 2026.

"Pass rush is king," Tobin said in his end-of-year news conference Jan. 9. "You always need to be layering in pass rushers."

When the Bengals mapped out 2025, Cincinnati envisioned Hendrickson continuing his trajectory as one of the game's best pass rushers -- for at least one season. The spring was filled with acrimony between Hendrickson and the Bengals, resulting in a contract dispute that stretched into training camp and was eventually settled with a substantial raise that set his salary at $29 million.

But once the Week 6 injury occurred, the plan unraveled. Hendrickson attempted to come back two weeks later in Week 8 against the New York Jets. But he aggravated the injury, which frustrated Hendrickson, causing him to leave that loss early. Those 23 snaps in a stunning 39-38 loss were his last of the season -- and potentially his Bengals career.

His injury was cited as a reason for the team's 6-11 campaign, which caused Cincinnati to miss the playoffs for the third straight season and increased scrutiny on Tobin, coach Zac Taylor and all the key decision-makers inside the organization.

"The highest-paid guy on both sides of the ball weren't out there for us," Tobin said. "You need your closers, and you need your aces when it comes down to the fourth quarter and you need a stop."

Should Cincinnati move on from Hendrickson, as expected, the Bengals could chart a few paths. One could include re-signing defensive end Joseph Ossai, who wrapped up his fifth year with the Bengals and is set to cash in after a one-year "prove it" deal with the team that drafted him in 2021.

While posting five sacks for the second straight year, Ossai saw an uptick in pressure rate, pass rush win rate and sacks created. That should merit him a much bigger contract than the one that paid him $6.5 million last season.

"I think I did all right for myself," Ossai said with a smile the day after the season ended. "I'm very critical of myself, so there's definitely a lot more that I wanted to do. A lot more I could have done."

Should the Bengals and Hendrickson part ways, Cincinnati will have to account for $6.5 million in dead money for next year's cap, according to OverTheCap.com. But with an estimated $56.1 million in cap space for 2026, Cincinnati has the room to find effective pass rushers.

"We've seen some of that start to develop from within our team," Tobin said. "And then I think we need to find some from external sources as well."

Getting improved play from Myles Murphy, the team's 2023 first-round pick, was a major boost for the Bengals at the end of the season. That helped offset Hendrickson's loss to a degree. Shemar Stewart, the team's first-round pick who missed nine games last season because of injuries, is still a major unknown.

The Bengals will also have the 10th pick in April's draft, the team's highest draft position since 2021 and a byproduct of the Bengals' worst record since the start of the decade.

Cincinnati has no shortage of routes to explore in improving its defensive front this offseason. But if the Bengals want to be a playoff team again, Cincinnati must be aggressive in finding the right path forward -- with or without Hendrickson.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/47640620/cincinnati-bengals-trey-hendrickson-free-agent

Odafe Oweh in FA.

RE: Oweh/Johnson

LE: Stewart/Murphy

I still wish we had chased Chase Young last year. https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/new-orleans-saints/news/saints-51-million-chase-young-contract-looks-highway-robbery/d5352f70a3a0610a2000b826

52 minutes ago, LostInDaJungle said:

Odafe Oweh in FA.

RE: Oweh/Johnson

LE: Stewart/Murphy

I still wish we had chased Chase Young last year. https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/new-orleans-saints/news/saints-51-million-chase-young-contract-looks-highway-robbery/d5352f70a3a0610a2000b826

Took Young a time to reach his abilities.

8.5 sacks in only 12 games was impressive.

I believe they split Murphy and Stewart to each side.

Wouldn’t surprise me to see them move Stewart inside, honestly.

1 hour ago, spicoli said:

Wouldn’t surprise me to see them move Stewart inside, honestly.

Then back outside a year later....

On 1/19/2026 at 3:18 PM, spicoli said:

Wouldn’t surprise me to see them move Stewart inside, honestly.

you think he is moved to DT? thats not going to happen....

you think he will pass rush from inside sometimes? like every pass rusher in the entire league on every single team thats ever played a football game? yeah probably.. he did that in college too, murphy has done it, Myles garrett does it, bosas do it, Watt does it... parsons does it...

11 hours ago, GoBengals said:

you think he is moved to DT? thats not going to happen....

We’ll see. He’s ox strong and has the frame to easily pack on 20lbs. It would be a good move for him, IMO.

44 minutes ago, spicoli said:

We’ll see. He’s ox strong and has the frame to easily pack on 20lbs. It would be a good move for him, IMO.

eh, I know it's not always a thing that fails, but the last time they tried this with Zack Carter it didnt work out at all.

I know new coaches and all, but I think I'd rather leave him at DE and let him get comfortable at that position.

1 hour ago, Jamie_B said:

eh, I know it's not always a thing that fails, but the last time they tried this with Zack Carter it didnt work out at all.

I know new coaches and all, but I think I'd rather leave him at DE and let him get comfortable at that position.

Agree he really needs to learn how to play before they get creative, but he may be less of a liability flailing around inside than on the edge.

3 minutes ago, T-Dub said:

Agree he really needs to learn how to play before they get creative, but he may be less of a liability flailing around inside than on the edge.

The injury set him back as far as learning, hopefully a full offseason and camp gets him playing fast sooner rather than later. We can't afford to wait on him for 3 years like we did Murphy, if Trey and Ossai are gone he needs to be playing fast now.

20 minutes ago, Jamie_B said:

The injury set him back as far as learning, hopefully a full offseason and camp gets him playing fast sooner rather than later. We can't afford to wait on him for 3 years like we did Murphy, if Trey and Ossai are gone he needs to be playing fast now.

Unfortunately we won't know if that happens until well after the point they could draft another already-productive DE or sign one in FA. Kinda over this sort of thing, where they expect everything to work as planned and have no alternative when it doesn't... Then blame it on luck.

I can see it now "everyone has bad defensive ends!! that they drafted in the first round... based on combine numbers..."

4 minutes ago, T-Dub said:

Unfortunately we won't know if that happens until well after the point they could draft another already-productive DE or sign one in FA. Kinda over this sort of thing, where they expect everything to work as planned and have no alternative when it doesn't... Then blame it on luck.

I can see it now "everyone has bad defensive ends!! that they drafted in the first round... based on combine numbers..."

I suspect they sign a solid rotational vet but expect Stewart to start. If that is Ossai, then I suspect its because he didn't get more elsewhere but his agent is Mulugheta, so I'm not expecting him back.

38 minutes ago, Jamie_B said:

I suspect they sign a solid rotational vet but expect Stewart to start. If that is Ossai, then I suspect its because he didn't get more elsewhere but his agent is Mulugheta, so I'm not expecting him back.

So basically the path of least resistance and it's "bad luck" if Stewart doesn't turn into an NFL starter in training camp because they're determined to start him regardless.

Why are they like this?

2 minutes ago, T-Dub said:

So basically the path of least resistance and it's "bad luck" if Stewart doesn't turn into an NFL starter in training camp because they're determined to start him regardless.

Why are they like this?

Well he was starting before he got hurt, then Ossai came on and didn't give up the spot. My guess is they expect him to pick up starting again. Whether that's a good idea is a different question.

1 hour ago, Jamie_B said:

The injury set him back as far as learning, hopefully a full offseason and camp gets him playing fast sooner rather than later. We can't afford to wait on him for 3 years like we did Murphy, if Trey and Ossai are gone he needs to be playing fast now.

The fans won’t wait 3 years but the team will. This season coming up will be the dedicated Hobs articles on how well he is performing in training camp (“disruptive and unblockable”) followed by another meh season with the odd tease. That will set the table for year 3 where he will bust out or just bust.

18 minutes ago, I_C_Deadpeople said:

The fans won’t wait 3 years but the team will. This season coming up will be the dedicated Hobs articles on how well he is performing in training camp (“disruptive and unblockable”) followed by another meh season with the odd tease. That will set the table for year 3 where he will bust out or just bust.

I honestly think he has a good chance of developing into a top DE. My issue is they don't have time to wait for that to happen.

54 minutes ago, I_C_Deadpeople said:

The fans won’t wait 3 years but the team will. This season coming up will be the dedicated Hobs articles on how well he is performing in training camp (“disruptive and unblockable”) followed by another meh season with the odd tease. That will set the table for year 3 where he will bust out or just bust.

I learned a long time ago to ignore everything that is coming out of Bagdad Hob's articles.

1 hour ago, Jamie_B said:

I learned a long time ago to ignore everything that is coming out of Bagdad Hob's articles.

He often seems like the least informed person covering the team. I'm sure a lot of that is being a company man, but not all of it. I guess if they don't always know what they're doing we shouldn't expect him to, either.

6 hours ago, Jamie_B said:

eh, I know it's not always a thing that fails, but the last time they tried this with Zack Carter it didnt work out at all.

To be clear, I’m not necessarily advocating for it to happen, it just seems like something they’d do.

That said though, with that frame and with that power and athleticism, he’s a guy that I legit think could thrive inside.

Hobson knows the insiders and how they think. His job is to dress it up a bit and turn it into fool's gold for the rubes. I haven't read his stuff in a while but has he started his annual pieces about how the team doesn't have any money and can't afford good free agents so we'll just have to wait for the better team's castoffs?

"Escalators"

1 hour ago, sparky151 said:

Hobson knows the insiders and how they think. His job is to dress it up a bit and turn it into fool's gold for the rubes. I haven't read his stuff in a while but has he started his annual pieces about how the team doesn't have any money and can't afford good free agents so we'll just have to wait for the better team's castoffs?

"Escalators"

"Rookie pool"

18 hours ago, T-Dub said:

"Rookie pool"

Yeah, he must have gone on for a good 5 years treating it as an additional cap expense while pretending not to notice the rookies in aggregate displaced more expensive veterans.

3 hours ago, sparky151 said:

Yeah, he must have gone on for a good 5 years treating it as an additional cap expense while pretending not to notice the rookies in aggregate displaced more expensive veterans.

And unused cap space rolls to the next year, so this team always levergaed that....into unusued cap space to roll forward to the following year...

10 minutes ago, I_C_Deadpeople said:

And unused cap space rolls to the next year, so this team always levergaed that....into unusued cap space to roll forward to the following year...

Mr. Brown thanks you for your feedback. As our thank you, here's $1 off our $12 beers when you buy 5. Thanks for being a fan. Who-Dey.

I have heard several important parties within the team mention depth being of increased importance going forward, as we went from having really good starters and youth depth to having some decent young starters and no depth now, like trey should have been the starter and murphy and stewert and ossai in rotation everywhere, TJ and BJ starting and jenkins and jackson backup, etc..

so DE will be a curious one, do you go grab an Oweh, like some mentioned, pay him solid money, have murphy and stewerts making about the same... and then what if DE is what lands in your lap in the draft..

as those free agent decision MUST be made before the draft so, do you end up with 4 high value assets spent on DE going into this season? you cant go into it with just murphy and stewert, you can have that plan as starters, but you need some reliable rotation and action pieces behind them.

and similar things at LB and CB, safety we can take a FA and a draft pick no problem there..