Despite confidence from Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown on Monday, the standoff between the team and star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson has hit another ugly bump in the road.
After Brown’s comments and some good old-fashioned Twitter insiders speculating on Monday, it felt like the two sides were finally close to an agreement that would get Hendrickson back with the team and focused on the 2025 season.
And then we all went to bed.
Long-term extension talks between the #Bengals and star Trey Hendrickson
ADbroke down over guaranteed money before camp… and Hendrickson has now indicated he left the state. He just posted this on Instagram. pic.twitter.com/Le2aKris0t
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 22, 2025
Hendrickson posted early Tuesday morning that he was back in Florida. This is significant because Hendrickson had notably been training in Cincinnati, fueling speculation that he was staying close for a reason.
But after all of the positive energy that seemed to surround the situation yesterday, it appears that the two sides are still literally and figuratively miles apart.
On @gmfb, Manti Te'o says he spoke with Trey Hendrickson, who said of the #Bengals' offer and specifically guarantees: "They are atrociously, atrociously low."
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 22, 2025
Hendrickson has made clear he won't play on the last year of his current deal, which is worth $16 million in 2025.
Manti Te’o claims he spoke with Hendrickson and that (and stop me if you’ve heard this before), guaranteed money was the hangup in negotiations.
This very well could drag on into the regular season.
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