Cincinnati Bengals News & Rumors

There’s been plenty of analysis on the stalemate between the Bengals and star edge rusher Trey Hendrickson. We’ve continually heard that the main holdup between the two sides revolves around guarantees, and that still appears to be the case. However, when it comes to average annual value, it sounds like the Bengals are willing to make Hendrickson one of the highest-paid players at his position.

[RELATED: Trey Hendrickson Not Seeing Bengals Talks Shift]

According to Albert Breer of SI.com, the AAV is “no longer the problem” between the two sides. Breer believes the Bengals are offering a contract that’s “well into the 30s” annually, and the offer is “closer to the top of the market than people want to believe.”

Just this offseason, we’ve seen four pass rushers surpass Nick Bosa‘s $34MM AAV, with T.J. Watt now pacing the position with a $41MM annual mark. While a Micah Parsons deal could slightly change the calculus, it sounds like the Bengals and Hendrickson are generally in agreement on the contract’s basic value.

The Bengals organization has traditionally shied away from offering guarantees beyond the first year of an extension, although they did buck that trend when it came to contracts for Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase. While those deals could have set a new precedent for the Bengals defensive leader, it sounds like the front office isn’t budging on their first-year guarantee stance.

There were some recent rumblings that the team was considering including some guaranteed money in the second year of Hendrickson’s contract, but it sounds like that still won’t be enough to satisfy the impending free agent. The Bengals are trying to point to the massive raise Hendrickson would see in 2025, but we learned that a $10MM gap in guaranteed money still exists between the two sides.

There were once reports that the Bengals hadn’t offered a contract that even touched a $35MM AAV, so from a glass-half-full perspective, Breer’s report seems like a positive step forward. However, there have been reports all along that a disagreement over guarantees were at the root of the showdown between the Bengals and Hendrickson, and that apparently hasn’t changed.

Hendrickson engaged in a brief holdout before reporting to training camp, but he refuses to practice with his teammates until he inks a new deal. The player later told reporters that “nothing has changed” when it comes to negotiations, so it sounds like this is a storyline that’s destined to continue throughout the preseason.

Following Terry McLaurin, Trey Hendrickson reported to training camp after a brief holdout. The Bengals can no longer levy nonwaivable $50K fines daily, but they will not see the disgruntled defensive end suit up for practice.

Hendrickson will also follow the Commanders wideout in staging a hold-in; unlike McLaurin, no injury designation is covering this tactic. Hendrickson (via the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Kelsey Conway) is healthy and not working out due to dissatisfaction with his Bengals negotiations.

[RELATED: Bengals Reach Compromise To Sign Shemar Stewart]

Although Hendrickson reporting to camp can be interpreted as a positive sign, the 2024 sack leader squashed a notion of improvement by saying (via The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr.) “nothing has changed” with regard to his Bengals impasse. Though, Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz indicates Hendrickson does plan to attend Bengals meetings to stay engaged while embroiled in this dispute.

Hendrickson wants future salary guarantees, a contract dealbreaker — for non-Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase performers — in Cincinnati. A report indicated Hendrickson rejected multiple Bengals offers following the franchise’s traditional structure, which features no post-Year 1 salary guarantees, and ESPN’s Adam Schefter confirmed (during a Pat McAfee Show appearance) locked-in money represents the final hurdle here. The parties are believed to be in agreement on total value.

The Bengals are not willing to budge much on guarantees, per Schefter, who indicates the parties are far apart here. Schefter pointed to a roughly $10MM guarantee gap existing while adding, in a notable inclusion, the Bengals have discussed a partial guarantee for Year 2 of the extension. We broached this as a possible middle ground in the latest Trade Rumors Front Office post, though Hendrickson is displeased with the amount of guaranteed money the team is willing to provide post-Year 1. For 2025, however, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero note Hendrickson would receive a “huge” raise.

Cincy broke with its guarantee M.O. for Chase while tying Tee Higgins to a traditional deal. Higgins being paid almost definitely is affecting Hendrickson, as all signs were pointing to Higgins departing — in free agency or via a tag-and-trade move — in 2025. Burrow’s persistent lobbying undoubtedly swayed the Bengals on Higgins, and the QB is still pushing for a Hendrickson extension. Considering the weight Burrow holds, his latest endorsement is notable.

“This is the guy that has the most sacks over the last two years,” Burrow said, via SI.com’s Russ Heltman. “Production is value in this league. I know you can think you’re such a good player, but to not have any production doesn’t really matter. So when you have a guy like that, you want to reward him.”

Burrow made a public plea to the Bengals on Hendrickson in May as well. Hendrickson and the Bengals being in agreement regarding value is an important takeaway here, but with the perennial Pro Bowler set to turn 31 later this year, ensuring protections beyond the first year of an extension represents an important negotiating component. An AAV number has not surfaced, but it would stand to reason it would be close to the $35.6MM figure Danielle Hunter agreed to with the Texans ahead of his age-31 season.

Early this summer, however, no $35MM-AAV proposal had come from the team. The Bengals had preferred to resolve this with a one-year add-on; Hendrickson already did that (in 2023), being tied to that one-year, $21MM bump. Significant updates to his position’s market have emerged since, many coming this year.

T.J. Watt raising the EDGE ceiling (to $41MM) before his age-31 campaign could also have inflated Hendrickson’s asking price; Watt’s full guarantees on a three-year deal ($108MM) likely emboldened the Cincinnati rusher as well.

While Hendrickson is unlikely to surpass that, the Bengals have seen this saga play out during an offseason in which the position’s market has seen four updates to its previous highwater mark (Nick Bosa‘s $34MM-per-year deal). Micah Parsons is at odds with the Cowboys, but that deal could affect a Hendrickson rate as well. Parsons going first and raising the market past $41MM per annum could introduce another element in the Hendrickson talks. For now, the sides remain dug in on the guarantee matter.

JULY 25: Hendrickson and the Bengals have indeed reached an agreement on the average annual value of an extension, Sportskeeda’s Tony Pauline reports. The issue remains the matter of guarantees, with Pauline adding Hendrickson’s asking price includes locked in money for the next three years. The question of when (or if) a compromise on this front will be made remains a central Bengals storyline as training camp continues.

JULY 23: Trey Hendrickson spent the last month in Cincinnati, working out to prepare for the season and hoping the Bengals would finally offer an acceptable contract extension.

Instead, he has retreated to Florida to commence a long-threatened holdout as the rest of the team begins training camp.

During a recent press conference, Bengals owner Mike Brown and de facto general manager Duke Tobin struck an optimistic tone about the state of negotiations with Hendrickson. Behind the scenes, however, the team still refused to meet Hendrickson’s core demands regarding length and guarantees. Neither of the Bengals’ two most recent offers included guaranteed money past the first year, per The Athletic’s Diana Russini.

Hendrickson received and rejected both offers in a 24-hour span before packing his bags and following through on his threat to hold out from training camp.

“I wanted to be there,” said Hendrickson (via Russini), “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.”

Length and guarantees remain the main obstacle to a deal, suggesting that the two sides have been able to find a middle ground on APY. Hendrickson has emphasized that he is not demanding a market-resetting figure, something he reiterated in his interview with Russini.

“I was more than willing to take less in some ways in order to make a deal work,” explained Hendrickson, who expressed a desire to be a team captain and help mentor his younger teammates, including first-round pick and fellow holdout Shemar Stewart. But none of that can begin until and unless the Bengals meet Hendrickson’s demands, or at least enough of them to convince him to put pen to paper and get back on the field.

Despite the prolonged stalemate, Hendrickson is not expected to be traded, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer (via ESPN Chicago). Hendrickson told Russini that he wants to be in Cincinnati and knows the team feels the same way, something both sides have been consistent about throughout the offseason.