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One of the biggest holdouts in the NFL preseason has come to an end.
Cincinnati Bengals star defensive end Trey Hendrickson, the league’s leader in sacks a year ago, has agreed to end his holdout amid a contract dispute, per ESPN.
The only problem is Hendrickson is still without the contract extension he’s been looking for from Cincinnati all offseason.
Hendrickson’s committal to training camp, though, could perhaps expedite the process to get the 30-year-old inked long-term.
Hendrickson was the final player in the league who held out of training camp, as others, like Washington Commanders receiver Terry McLaurin, stood their ground for a bit before joining their teammates.
BENGALS END TENSE STANDOFF WITH FIRST-ROUND PICK SHEMAR STEWART WITH SIGNING OF HIS ROOKIE DEAL
Hendrickson said last week that he was in Jacksonville, Florida, where he explained the contract situation from his point of view with the Bengals.
“I spent the last 30 days at my home in Cincinnati, which is across the river from the stadium,” Hendrickson said, via The Athletic. “We were given two offers within a 24-hour period, and [neither] of them had the guarantees we were looking for. I wanted to be there, but there’s no way I would be able to sit there in the house and hear the practice whistles while also being a distraction. I don’t want to ruin the other 10 guys’ 2025 season on my contract language.”
Hendrickson added that he would take a contract with less money, but the guarantees are what matters.
While Bengals President Mike Brown said the team would not be trading Hendrickson, he did say “we’re working to get Trey re-signed as we speak.”
“And I think it will get done,” he said, via The New York Post.
The Bengals have not been seen in the best light this offseason, as first-round pick Shemar Stewart also dealt with similar contract issues. He had an issue with contractual language that could void his guaranteed money, but he ultimately signed a full-guaranteed $18.7 million rookie deal last week with $10.4 million as a signing bonus.
It’s unknown if or when Hendrickson and the Bengals will reach common ground, but a step in the right direction is the All-Pro heading into the building to prepare for the 2025 season with his teammates.
Hendrickson, who has made the Pro Bowl every year he’s been with Cincinnati since 2021 – he spent the first four of his eight NFL seasons with the New Orleans Saints – had 17.5 sacks last season, just like he did in 2023.
He has cemented himself as one of the league’s best pass rushers, and he’s looking to be paid as such.
Two of the Bengals’ AFC North rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns, paid their two pass rushing studs this offseason as well. Browns’ Myles Garrett was first with a deal that paid him $40 million per season to become the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league, and the Steelers broke that with Watt’s deal, worth $41 million per year.
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