How Bengals already have Trey Hendrickson's replacement on the roster

The Cincinnati Bengals have a huge issue to resolve, looking into the future beyond the final two weeks of the 2025 NFL season.

Trey Hendrickson is a free agent, and with his departure from an already struggling defense, the Bengals need to find his replacement in a major way.

However, as Ben Baby of ESPN highlighted after the Bengals' dominant Week 16 win over the Miami Dolphins, the Hendrickson replacement might already be on the roster.

How Bengals already have Trey Hendrickson's replacement

"Cincinnati defensive end Myles Murphy continues his strong close to the season." Baby writes. "The 2023 first-round pick has a tackle for loss and a fumble recovery against Miami."

Those aren't the most eye-catching statistics, like the ones Hendrickson would put up occasionally for the Bengals over the years. But it's a part of his overall improvement this season.

"With defensive end Trey Hendrickson on IR (hip/pelvis)," Baby write, "Murphy has received ample playing time. And he's made the most of it, playing with a lot of confidence as he approaches the end of his third NFL season."

Murphy is a 2023 first-rounder and will be under team control through the 2026 NFL season at minimum. If the Bengals so choose, they can pick up his fifth-year option for 2027 and give the Bengals another season with Murphy.

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While he has not lived up to the first-round hype in his career so far, his play this season, as of late, with five tackles, including one TFL and one QB hit vs. the Dolphins, and his two sacks a week ago, Murphy is showing up lately.

In the year, he has two passes defended, already a career high, and 4.5 sacks, also a career high. His 41 tackles and five tackles for loss are career highs, and his 14 pressures are, of course, a career high.

He's played 604 snaps so far this season, nearly equal to the first two seasons of his career combined. He's playing more than ever, and making the most of it.

He's just 23 years old and will turn 24 on January 3rd. Murphy will still be fairly young heading into the 2026 NFL season, and now that he's finally beginning to turn things around, he could be the Bengals' replacement for Hendrickson.

If Shemar Stewart can start flashing his potential, and another pass rusher can work into the fold next season, then the Bengals could have a solid group up front to build a strong defensive front without Hendrickson.

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