There’s good news and bad news as it relates to the Bengals’ lingering contract impasse with defensive end Trey Hendrickson.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter said during the Monday night Cincinnati-Washington pregame show that the Bengals and Hendrickson have an agreement as to the duration of the deal and the annual average. However, when it comes to guaranteed money, the two sides are “nowhere close.”
And that’s a huge factor. Guarantees are all that matters. NFL contracts are one-way deals, with the teams able to insist on compliance by the player while also free to tear up the deal at any time.
The Bengals went through this last year with receiver Ja’Marr Chase. The APY would have made him the highest-paid receiver. The structure, however, was horrible, we were told at the time.
For a player on the wrong side of 30, there’s a temptation to retain year-to-year flexibility. Hendrickson surely wants at least two years of full guarantees at signing.
Or maybe more. The report is that the two sides are “nowhere close.”
Meanwhile, Week 1 is coming. If Hendrickson is going to be ready to go, he needs to start practicing soon. Which means that the Bengals either need to find a way to bridge the gap, or they need to do more than listen to the trade offers they’re reportedly receiving.
