Trey Hendrickson may be in Cincinnati, but he has yet to sign an extension with the Bengals.
The All-Pro defensive end concluded his holdout and began his hold-in recently by showing up to Cincinnati Bengals training camp but not participating. The move was seen by many as a sign of progress and good faith.
However, it has not only yet to result in a deal, but it has also reportedly been “disheartening” for Hendrickson because of the way the offers have differed from previous negotiations.
“Trey is still waiting for a deal, and we’ve been in touch with him and trying to just get an idea of what the plan is when you’re holding in after holding out,” Dianna Russini said on the ‘Scoop City' podcast. “Because if you recall, he thought he was getting a deal done. He felt really good that they would come together right before veterans were reporting. Even the night before, he was at his home with his family, across from where they train, waiting for his agent to be like, ‘Alright, we’ve got a deal,' and he was going to show up for camp the next day.
“After two offers from the Bengals, after what he thought was going to have the guaranteed money that they discussed prior — because his agent had good conversations with Cincinnati about having two-year guaranteed money — when the formal offer came in, it wasn’t there.”
Hendrickson is entering the final year of an extension he signed in 2023, but he has made it abundantly clear, despite the $16 million he is set to earn in 2025, that he will not play for the Bengals if he does not get a suitable contract. And the Bengals have seemingly made it clear that they do not value Hendrickson, 30, as much as most other teams would value the NFL's sack leader.
Cincinnati has a reputation of being one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest, franchises in the NFL. The Bengals did quite a bit trying to shed that with the contract extensions of Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins, who Cincinnati paid a combined $551 million in extensions over the past few years, but the Hendrickson saga does little but reinforce the ‘cheap' narrative around the Bengals.
