Trey Hendrickson‘s showdown with the Bengals took another turn this evening, as the star pass rusher is transforming his holdout into a hold-in. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Hendrickson is planning to report to Bengals training camp tomorrow. However, the two sides are not any closer to a deal. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport notes that the player is currently en route to Cincinnati.
[RELATED: Trey Hendrickson Rejects Bengals’ Latest Offers]
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero adds that it’s unlikely Hendrickson will actually practice with his team until he inks a new contract. However, today’s development is clearly a positive step forward for the two sides, and having the edge rusher in the building should only help build momentum towards an eventual resolution. Indeed, Dianna Russini of The Athletic says the player and the Bengals intend to continue working on a deal after negotiations recently broke down.
We heard last week that the player had retreated to Florida after rejecting a pair of offers from the Bengals, and Hendrickson seemed prime to engage in his long-threatened holdout. That absence ended up lasting less than a week, with the pass rusher incurring daily fines of $50K for being a no-show.
Hendrickson’s brief trip to Florida threw cold water on the building optimism in Cincinnati. Owner Mike Brown and de facto general manager Duke Tobin both expressed recent optimism that the two sides would soon come to an agreement. However, later reports indicated that there was still a sizable gap in negotiations. While Hendrickson and the Bengals were reportedly in agreement on the average annual value of an extension, the team was still unwilling to meet the player’s core demands of length and guarantees.
Specifically, Hendrickson has reportedly been seeking locked-in money for the first three years of his extension. The Bengals, who have only recently backed down from their refusal to hand out future guarantees to veterans, were only willing to include guaranteed money in the first year of their offer. This stalemate ultimately led to Hendrickson departing Cincinnati for Florida.
It remains to be seen if the two sides can bridge that gap, although it seems unlikely that the stare down ends in a trade. Hendrickson recently made it clear that he wants to stick in Cincinnati, and he said that sentiment is shared by the organization. Today’s development is a good sign as the two sides look to repair their relationship, although Hendrickson’s impending hold-in will likely cause new distractions for the organization.
Hendrickson represented the last player to engage in a training camp holdout. Commanders receiver Terry McLaurin reported to camp the other day without a deal, and Hendrickson will now follow suit. Courtland Sutton engaged in his own pseudo-hold-in and was rewarded with a lucrative contract extension yesterday.
I wonder if the hold-in tactic will be addressed in the next CBA negotiations…
The owners will sure as hell try to but how do you regulate if a guy has a “back” without sounding like a total a hole?
The owners rake anyways. Screw them.
You would then force some actual injured guys trying to negotiate contracts to play while injured and if a really bad injury happens as a result the player would sue for lost wages.
Fines proportionate to their salary. Done.
Just to be clear, I am NOT in the owner’s corner on this one… Just seems like any time players find an effective tactic, owners try desperately to get rid of it.
So if this extends into the season, does he continue to “hold in”? Does he show up on the sidelines each week but just ride the exercise cycle? That would be hilarious.
If I was Mike Brown, I’d make sure to walk over and shake his hand every day, while he sits two fields over from where the rest of the team is practicing. Nobody says they have to acknowledge his presence.
Well, they better acknowledge his presence because without him, that defense couldn’t stop a drain.
Why acknowledge he is there if he has no intention of honoring his contract for this year? Sign a free agent (Smith or Clowney or even Lawson) for half what Hendrickson is making and move on. He’s a good at sacking the quarterback, at everything else he’s mediocre.
lmao, ownership routinely does not honor its contracts and releases players so they don’t have to pay them. Stop with the ‘honor his contract’ BS when a cornerstone of all ownership demands in CBA negotiations is keeping non-guaranteed contracts. You are anti-player and pro-ownership. You’re jealous that players get to make so much money playing a game. End of story.
And wow, what a simple plan for replacing Hendrickson! Just go out and grab and aging, subpar replacement! Think of the savings! With that attitude, Cincinnati better clear a spot in their trophy case, because Lombardi is coming to town! Laughable.
rct- If a player doesn’t have a guaranteed contract then ownership has every right to cut/fire them. It’s called being an employee at will. I know that’s a technical term, but it basically means you can be fired for ANY reason. If on the other hand you sign a contract with me to do a kitchen remodel and then you decide not to do it, but have already been paid you will find yourself in court.
As someone who has owned and sold several businesses I sure as he** am pro ownership. Because employees will do whatever they can get away with and that’s going to cost ME money. Sorry, businesses don’t make money by letting employees do whatever they feel like, when they feel like it. No jealousy, but you get paid for you skills and Hendrickson is very average in every other skill besides snacking the QB. Why would I not get a replacement if the man who has already signed a contract to get paid 16 million dollars a year decides to sit on the sideline and pout? What are going to do, play 10 against the other teams 11? You make no sense. My playing days are long gone. But I make do with investments, and casino dividends.
You are the one who’s laughable. Apparently you have no idea about employment law, running a business, playing football, or being a nice person. But you have a great day.
Run With Football- Isn’t the act of shaking his hand every day actually acknowledging his presence?
Flagg- Got to love a word game player. Well, THEY would not be acknowledging his presence, HE would be, if you must. They refers to Katie Blackburn, any coaches, other players, clubhouse personnel, groundskeepers etc. One person would be a he or she, a collective of people would be referred to as them or they. Now that all the wordplay is out of the way you have a nice day.
Thanks for clarifying.
Cheapskates owners! No wonder they haven’t won a Super Bowl!
I don’t blame the Bengals for their position on this. Trey is great at sacking the quarterback. That’s it. Every other metric at his position he is average at best. He does not stop the run well at all. ( Myles , Max do ) they offered him more than 27 mil which is almost double what he’s under contract for. I get the sacking the qb is a big deal as it helps other levels of the defense perform better … but he’s kind of 1 dimensional.
Brian Burns also isn’t great against the run, is worse at pass rushing, and gets much more than that.
The massive increase in pay for the stat, sacks, reminds me of the save pay increase in mlb in the late 80s.
It’s untenable recently to be pro owner or player, with this one especially.
The market rate practically increased by 2 for sack specialists.
It is difficult for anyone to transition to pay increases that quickly. What position is to decrease to compensate?
I dont know that anyone wants to get into those weeds.
The Browns owner is the A hole who continues to drive prices up in the market and he can’t build a team around them while doing this. Even with the SC going up.