The last few days have brought a flurry of updates regarding Trey Hendrickson‘s persisting standoff with the Bengals, though there seems to be no real progress regarding contract or trade talks
Hendrickson and the Bengals reached an agreement on the length and value of an extension weeks ago, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. However, the team still refuses to guarantee money beyond the 2025 season, which has been one of the All-Pro edge rusher’s demands all along. Hendrickson confirmed the state of negotiations as described by Pelissero to ESPN’s Laura Rutledge during Monday Night Football coverage of the Bengals-Commanders preseason game (via ESPN’s Ben Baby).
Rutledge also reported that there has been no movement on a potential trade, likely due to the Bengals’ high asking price. They rejected an offer of “a second-round pick and change,” before the draft, per Pelissero, preferring a first-rounder instead. He added that the price has “softened, or at least changed a little bit,” explaining that Cincinnati is now asking for a draft pick and a young impact player to help offset the loss of Hendrickson this year.
However, that does not gel with a report from The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, who says that teams who checked in with the Bengals regarding a Hendrickson trade were given an asking price of a 2026 first-round pick and a young defensive player. That player does not necessarily have to be a pass rusher.
Despite an early report that the Browns were interested in trading for Hendrickson, Cleveland is not “seriously pursuing” the NFL’s reigning sack leader, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. The Patriots, however, have called about Hendrickson, per Outkick’s Armando Salguero, though putting together a package that meets the Bengals’ requirements may be difficult this close to the season.
Nikhil Mehta contributed to this post.
Since the length and amount are agreed upon, and it sounds the ask won’t be ridiculous, a trade might actually be feasible here.
The only number that matters is the guaranteed money. The rest is just cap garbage.
Team and player agree on the length and value of the extension, but the team won’t guarantee payment past the first year because they don’t actually want to have to honor the length and value of the extension.
Absolutely
So just like Hendrickson, who is under contract and won’t honor the terms of the deal
It is astounding to me that there are still people who try to equate a team not honoring a contract with a player holding in/out.
These are not the same things.
A player cannot unilaterally break a contract. If a player holds out, they lose game checks, they get fined, and if the player doesn’t play in at least six regular season games that year, the team owner can hold them back from free agency for another year. Furthermore, the team owner can sometimes attempt to claw back some of the original signing bonus.
But a team owner can break a contract unilaterally if they want to. If a team owner doesn’t want to honor a contract, they can end it without consequence. Tell the player see ya, and the player is out of a job, won’t get paid the money they signed a contract to receive, nothing. And if the timing is bad, they might not even be able to get another gig with another team and recoup any of the lost funds.
THIS IS WHY PLAYERS DEMAND UP-FRONT MONEY! Because they know that team owners can’t be counted on to honor a signed contract, and so players attempt to mitigate the damage by getting money up front.
If the Bengals cut Hendrickson today, they incur no financial penalty and can unilaterally void the contract. If Hendrickson holds out for the season, he incurs the financial penalty of not getting paid, and the contract is still in force and carries over to 2026 because the player can’t unilaterally void the contract.
It’s blindingly obvious that team owners and players are not bound to the contract terms in the same way. The power imbalance is skewed heavily in favor of the team owner. So, it’s baffling that some of you criticize the players when they take actions that attempt to decrease that imbalance even a little bit in their favor.