Bengals in contract standoff with Trey Hendrickson: Predicting when drama might end with 2024 NFL sack leader
Cincinnati – When the Bengals of Cincinnati report on Tuesday at the training camp, Trey Hendrickson does not be there. The star of Bengals is currently around 800 miles from Ohio in northern Florida, which means that one of the two things happened: either he forgot that he was supposed to come to the training camp, or his contractual impasse with the Bengals has become so ugly that he decided not to present himself.
You can probably determine which one it is.
Hendrickson didn’t say big Don’t go this year Under the terms of his current contract, which should pay him a basic salary of $ 15.8 million in 2025.
Since then, the two parties have been working to make an extension, but they have not been able to conclude an agreement on a new agreement. So when will it come for the training camp?
Let’s see where things are currently located between Bengals and Hendrickson, then make a prediction on the moment when he could present himself.
Bengals seem optimistic about to conclude an agreement
If there is one of the reasons why negotiations could soon be done, it is because the two parties certainly agree on at least one thing: Hendrickson deserves an increase.
Duke Tobin, who is the facto general manager of the team, clearly said on Monday that Bengals were trying to reward Hendrickson, who directed the NFL in bags in 2024.
“It’s a guy who was very precious,” said Tobin. “He has obtained an increase and an extension and we will continue to see if we can come together on it. Having good players is a good problem to have and we have a lot of good players and we have a lot of very paid players and gathered is what we are working on for.”
The owner of the Bengals, Mike Brown, who rarely does interviews, also spoke on Monday, and he seemed optimistic about the conclusion of an agreement with Hendrickson in the near future.
“I think we are in a good place,” said Brown about negotiations. “I hope this thing will come together soon. I’m just going to leave that.”
Brown also pointed out that Hendrickson’s signature was a priority for Bengals.
“I think he turned out to be an important player for us,” said Brown. “He’s a precious player, he makes a difference. We want to have him sign.”
If the owner and the managing director are both on board giving Hendrickson a substantial increase, you would think that an agreement would soon be, but that has not happened. So what is the Holdup? Happy you have asked.
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Why is there a dead end?
Hendrickson wants a huge increase that will bring him closer to the top of the market to his position. In January, the best -paid pass pass earned $ 34 million a year (Nick Bosa), but Maxx Crosby ($ 35.5 million) Danielle Hunter ($ 35.6 million), Myles Garrett ($ 40 million per year) and TJ Watt ($ 41 million per year) all obtained new transactions in the past six months, reset the market.
Nothing indicates that Hendrickson wants to be the best paid player, but it is quite clear that he wants a substantial increase which would double more than his basic salary for 2025, which should be $ 15.8 million (in mid-May, professional speech indicated that the Bengals have offered up to $ 28 million per year and that this offer had a lot of Bengals since).
According to ESPN, a major problem that maintains the agreement is the amount of the money guaranteed. Bengals only offer a fully guaranteed year of salary while other passers – such as Garrett and Watt – received three years of guaranteed money. It has been the standard of Bengals for years to give only a year of guaranteed salary, but they have deviated from this structure for several star players, including Joe Burrow.
Right now, the guarantees are simply not there.
The other big problem – and could just as large as the financial aspect of the agreement – is the duration of the contract. Hendrickson wants a long -term agreement, but Bengals seek to do something in the short term in the two -year district, against which Hendrickson is categorically against.
“We just don’t see an eye on the structure,” Hendrickson said in May. “It seems that a shorter case is something that they grow strong enough. It puts in the same place as in 2022, where I must renegotiate the following year.”
Hendrickson received an extension of one year in 2023 and he no longer wants to take this road.
“If … I play at a better level than I was last year, then next year, we just kicked the box,” said Hendrickson.
The All-Pro also noted that obtaining a long-term agreement would be a sign of mutual respect.
“This is where my values lie and it also allows me to stop negotiating each off -season about something that was almost four years,” said Hendrickson.
If the Bengals concede and give it a longer matter, they may not be willing to concede on the guaranteed money, it will therefore be interesting to see how this negotiation is taking place.
Hendrickson was somewhat cryptic on social networks
The Bengal star is quite silent on his negotiation since May, but he shared a video on social networks, marking the first time in a month he had shared.
Sometimes players share cryptic messages on social networks, but Hendrickson’s post seems to be a little clearer than most players in his situation: he shared a three -minute highlight video who showed most of his 17.5 bags from 2024.
The 30 -year -old also added a biblical verse as a legend to his video: 1 Corinthians 16:13.
This specific verse says, “Be on your guard; stay firm in faith; be courageous; be strong.”
When you are in an impasse of the contract and you share something that talks about standard and stay strong, it seems to be a sign that Hendrickson will not move his requests.
Why should Bengals work to conclude an agreement quickly
Bengals may not want to respond to Hendrickson’s requests, but if they don’t agree soon, things will only get complicated. Watt, who is only three months older than Hendrickson, obtained a new record agreement last week. And soon, the wait is that Micah Parsons resets the passee market, and if that happens, this could increase the requested price of Hendrickson.
When will it end?
The front office of Bengals is not known to move a lot in contractual negotiations and it seems that Hendrickson is also dug, which is why the two parties are at a dead end. Hendrickson asked for an exchange earlier this yearBut that will certainly not happen.
“We are not going to exchange Trey,” said Brown on Monday. “We work to do it.”
Based on the comments of Tobin and Brown, it is quite clear that the Bengals understand how important Hendrickson is for the team, which means that this could be the rare case where someone who negotiates with Bengals gets exactly what they want. Unlike the negotiation of Shemart Stewart, who has Draw the anger of the front officeThe two parties seem to conclude an agreement here.
Bengals had a series of slow departures under Zac Taylor and this has been largely happened because there has always been a kind of setback or distraction at the training camp. In July 2021, Joe Burrow left a torn ACL he suffered in 2020. In July 2022, Burrow underwent a broken annex It made him miss almost the entire training camp. In July 2023, he underwent a calf injury at the start of the training camp This knocked him out for almost a month. In 2024, Burrow was not 100% at the start of the camp when he came out A torn ligament on the wrist that he suffered in November 2023. Bengals also had to face the contractual situation of Ja’mar Chase during the training camp last year.
All these problems have been added to the Bengals, which are 1-9 in the first two weeks of the season since the editorial staff of Burrow in 2020. This is a team that does not need distractions before the training camp and this could be enough motivation to conclude an agreement with Hendrickson.
Prediction: Hendrickson was in Cincinnati during the weekend, which was perhaps a sign of good will of him that he hoped to have his contract concluded before the start of the training camp. This will not happen now, but it doesn’t mean it should drag. Bengals and Hendrickson both want to conclude the agreement, so the prediction here is that the two parties do something by August 1. This timing would allow Hendrickson to make his debut at the training camp during a training on August 2 which will take place in front of thousands of fans at the Paycor Stadium.
