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Trey Hendrickson on holdout from Cincinnati Bengals: ‘I was more than willing to take less’
Trey Hendrickson's contract negotiations with the Cincinnati Bengals have not progressed, prompting him to train in Jacksonville.
The Cincinnati Bengals’ holdout on forging a fresh deal with defensive end Trey Hendrickson has failed to progress over the week. In a recent conversation with The Athletic, Hendrickson revealed that he’s currently in Jacksonville training after negotiations with the Bengals failed to yield the results and guarantees he had hoped for.
Trey Hendrickson on Cincinnati Bengals' holdout
“I spent the last 30 days at my home in Cincinnati, which is across the river from the stadium,” Hendrickson told The Athletic.
“We were given two offers within a 24-hour period, and (neither) of them had the guarantees we were looking for. I wanted to be there, 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,” he went on.
“I was more than willing to take less in some ways in order to make a deal work to accommodate the presented needs. I verbalized to the Bengals that I wanted to be a captain, to lead a young defense. And once rookie Shemar Stewart gets back at camp, I want to pass along the knowledge that I have, just like Cam Jordan once did for me. As I see it, Shemar and I are not competitors, we’re teammates. I’m excited to go to work with him when the time comes,” Hendrickson added.
Fans were earlier hopeful that talks would proceed in a positive direction when Hendrickson shared a photo on his Instagram Story, with the location tag revealing he was in Florida.
Just a day before that, Bengals owner Mike Brown expressed his desire to keep Hendrickson on as part of the team. “We will get it done at some point, I think. I think we are in a good spot. I hope this thing comes together soon,” he told reporters.
During his conversation with The Athletic, Hendrickson spoke about Brown with positive regard.
“As a man, he’s amazing. I don’t think anyone in Cincinnati has a bigger heart, I understand this is part of the business… I don’t want to repeat my actions at (mandatory) minicamp,” he said. “I have a great relationship with Zac [Taylor] and I want to keep it that way. The Bengals want me to be in Cincinnati and I want to be in Cincinnati.”
The deal is currently at a stale point since the Bengals are only willing to offer one year of guaranteed money to the 30-year-old player.
By Stuti Gupta
