Bengals’ Trey Hendrickson releases scathing statement against team as contract talks stall

Trey Hendrickson is more than open to staying in Cincinnati, but it seems like the Bengals are forcing him out the door.

The edge rusher, who led the NFL in sacks this past season, has been critical of his organization recently, but the scathing statement he released on Monday gave a peek behind the curtain.

Back in March, the Bengals gave Hendrickson permission to seek a trade – last month, he said the communication from them had been “poor.”

Well, that communication has apparently stopped, according to Hendrickson.

“No communication has taken place between my camp and the organization post draft,” Hendrickson said in a statement. 

“The offers prior to the draft did not reflect the vision we shared and were promised last offseason if I continued to play at a high level. Coaches are aware of these past conversations. Rather than using collaboration to get us to a point to bring me home to the team, THEY are no longer communicating. I have been eagerly awaiting a resolution of this situation, but that’s hard to do when there is no discussion and an evident lack of interest in reaching mutual goals.”

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Hendrickson finished each of the past two seasons with 17.5 sacks. He is entering the final year of his contract.

“We don’t have any desires of being highest paid or, you know, first in line,” Hendrickson said last month. “I’m not going to go into all the details, but, like, there are things that I’m willing to do and willing not to budge on. I don’t think I want to play for incentives that will be out of my control. I don’t think I want to play (on a) short-term contract…. I would like to tell my wife, ‘Here’s where we’re going to live. Here’s where we’re going to build a family together.’ You know?”

Hendrickson turned 30 in December, has been with Cincinnati since 2021 and has been an absolute steal for them. He spent his first four seasons with the New Orleans Saints but failed to put up numbers until his final season there, recording a career-high at the time of 13.5 sacks after just 6.5 in his first three NFL seasons.

Since the Bengals acquired him, he’s posted at least 14 sacks in three of his four seasons. He’s also made the Pro Bowl each season as a Bengal.

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