The Cincinnati Bengals and first round pick Shemar Stewart have officially agreed on a contract after months of issues between the two parties.
Now that his contract dispute is finally resolved, all the attention shifts to the 2024 NFL sack leader, Trey Hendrickson.
What is the latest update on the Hendrickson situation?
NFL Insider Tony Pauline of Sportskeeda recently shared his insight on the entire situation, and it is quite telling.
Pauline reports that the Bengals and Hendrickson have actually agreed
on the money portion of the contract, so that seems like good news...
Unfortunately, the guaranteed money remains the most significant issue.
“There have been reports that Hendrickson is looking for two years guaranteed in his contract while Cincinnati is only offering one, yet sources tell me the pass rusher is looking for a deal that will include guarantees for three years, at which point he’ll have been in the league 11 seasons,” Pauline wrote.
However, the most interesting aspect of this entire situation is that the two sides haven’t met in person since before training camp.
“Interestingly enough, I’m told there have been no recent face-to-face negotiations between the Bengals and Hendrickson or his team. There seems to be no sense of urgency coming from the Bengals’ front office, which is strange, as losing Hendrickson would set back the Cincinnati franchise on the field and in the locker room,” Pauline wrote.
This is incredibly concerning for Bengals fans, as Hendrickson was the only piece of the defense last season that truly produced throughout the regular season.
Back-to-back 17.5 sack seasons are quite impressive, and he’s more than earned the right to be paid like one of the NFL’s best edge players.
All we can do during training camp is hope the two sides come together before the preseason kicks off.
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