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.
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.
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.
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.