1. Trey Hendrickson ($14.5 million cap hit)
Trey Hendrickson has a base salary of $5.8 million and roster bonuses of $6.2 million. The prorated portion of his bonus (the amount paid out at signing but spread out for cap purposes over the life of the deal) comes in at $2.5 million. He is the highest-paid player on the team this season. With the pass-rush juice he provides, he certainly earns it.
Hendrickson came into the league as a third-round pick of the Saints in 2017, but he didn’t really blossom until the final year of his rookie deal in 2020 when he posted 13.5 sacks. He thereafter signed a hefty free-agent contract with Cincinnati, which was reported to be a 4-year, $60-million dollar deal. He immediately showed he was worth the investment, posting a career year with 14 sacks en route to the Bengals’ Super Bowl berth.
That wraps up our Top 5 highest-paid players on this team. These are the only guys on the roster who account for a cap hit of at least $10M or more this season.
And for those who are wondering, our fearless leader, Joey Brr, comes in at No. 6, with a $9.8M cap hit in 2022, but a base salary shy of a million bucks.
Talk about the best deal in football!