Trey Hendrickson ending Bengals holdout without new deal in place in training camp twist
Trey Hendrickson is going back to Cincinnati.
But without a new contract in hand.
The star Bengals defensive end has agreed to end his holdout, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Nevertheless, the NFL insider reported that Hendrickson and the Bengals are not closer to consummating a new deal.
Hendrickson, 30, was the final remaining NFL holdout this training camp. It’s not yet clear if he will practice as he looks to get his new contract.
The news comes less than a week after rookie defensive lineman Shemar Stewart ended his own lengthy standoff with the Bengals.
Hendrickson explained last week that he was in Jacksonville, Fla. and was willing to take a contract with less money, but that the offers presented to him did not have the guaranteed language that he was looking for and he didn’t want to be a “distraction.”
“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.”
Bengals president Mike Brown bluntly said last week that the team was not looking to trade Hendrickson, who’s on the final year of his current deal.
“We aren’t going to trade Trey,” Brown told reporters last week. “We’re working to get Trey re-signed as we speak,” Brown told the media. “Our guys are in the office working to get that done. And I think it will get done.”
Hendrickson has developed into one of the NFL’s elite edge rushers, leading the league with 17.5 sacks last season to earn his first All-Pro nod.
He had a 90.4 pass rusher grade on Pro Football Focus, ranking fifth out of 211 players.
Hendrickson will now look to cash in like the Steelers’ T.J. Watt, who earned a historic $123 million payday earlier in July.