Trey Hendrickson's stats say he's one of the NFL's best players. But do the Bengals want him?

After leading the NFL in sacks last season, Trey Hendrickson says he won't play for the Bengals without a new contract. The team has been reticent to negotiate, he says.

Under the NFL's salary cap, where all position groups are not compensated equally, value revolves around the quarterback — how well a player plays the position, protects it, or stops it.

The Cincinnati Bengals have two of the league's best at those skills. Yet two years after the team was quick to lock up quarterback Joe Burrow to a long-term contract extension in 2023, its reticence to hand a similarly lucrative extension to edge rusher Trey Hendrickson, despite leading the NFL in sacks last season, has led to an offseason standoff.

The impasse, which Hendrickson told reporters this week has become "personal," is at odds with the demand for disruption along the defensive line that has seen top pass rushers be paid handsomely.

In March, the Cleveland Browns agreed to pay Myles Garrett an average of $40 million per year as part of a long-term contract, the Las Vegas Raiders agreed to a three-year deal that will pay Maxx Crosby an average of $35.5 million, and in Houston, Texans defensive end Danielle Hunter earned a one-year extension worth $35.6 million.

If the pause in Hendrickson’s negotiations stem from concerns about whether he can replicate his success from last season, when he recorded a career-high 17.5 sacks, age also didn’t stop the deals for Crosby (27), Garrett (29) or Hunter (30).