Trey Hendrickson gets 100% real on his contract value after Myles Garrett’s $160,000,000 deal: "I'm not going to apologize”

Trey Hendrickson should be the next Cincinnati Bengals star to ink a new contract after wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins agreed to four-year deals at the start of free agency. Hendrickson, a defensive cornerstone, has made his intentions clear of signing a lucrative deal.

Amid talks regarding his future with the Bengals, Hendrickson joined "The Pat McAfee Show" on Wednesday to discuss what he's looking for in a new deal. The veteran defensive end said that seeing how the market has shaped in the past couple of years, he wants to get paid as other elite defenders in the league.

First, Trey Hendrickson mentioned Rashan Gary and Montez Sweat among players who signed big deals. Then, he went with Brian Burns and Josh Allen. Then, he included himself among the players with a year left on their contracts, set to sign a new and much better one.

"And it was like, you know, they were balling," Hendrickson said. "And now it's getting to the point where guys with two years left on the deals Max Crossby, Myles Garrett, guys with one year left on their deal, the Neil Hunter, myself and T.J. (Watt) and obviously Micah Parsons, he's an incredible athlete as well, like I just see that that's the street, right? We're on the end of National Football League street.

"The market value for that is going up like it did for wide receiver last year, and where I fit in that road is all up to discretion and things like that. So, we're willing to talk about those things, but with the market continuing to go up, I'm not going to apologize for that, because I've been basically asking for the same thing every year to be solidified as a Cincinnati Bengal."

Trey Hendrickson is coming off terrific 2024 NFL season

Trey Hendrickson posted 46 tackles, including a league-best 17.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and five passes defended. He's become one of the league's best defenders, and losing him would be a major blow for the Bengals.

The 30-year-old player can be the last piece to leave to make the Bengals' defense more disappointing than it was in 2024.

Bengals Vice President Katie Blackburn said on Tuesday that Hendrickson should be happy despite being in a tough position.

"I think he should be happy at certain rates that maybe he doesn't think he'd be happy at," Blackburn said, via Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

This situation could be headed south if it doesn't come to a resolution soon. Trey Hendrickson is a crucial member of a team that had one of the worst defenses in the NFL last season.