CINCINNATI — While the Bengals and Trey Hendrickson recently re-engaged in contract talks, Hendrickson was not at Paycor Stadium as the team reported for training camp on Tuesday. Instead, he posted a photo to social media of the sun rising with a geotag of Florida. On Tuesday afternoon, the veteran defensive end told The Athletic’s Dianna Russini why.
As Bengals veterans report to camp, Trey Hendrickson makes it clear on Instagram where he is as his contract situation remains unsettled: pic.twitter.com/e7l5NQhAnz
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) July 22, 2025
He said he is training in Jacksonville. “I spent the last 30 days at my home in Cincinnati, which is across the river from the stadium. 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.
“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.”
Owner Mike Brown spoke optimistically on Monday about reaching a new agreement with Hendrickson. “I think we are in a good spot,” he said. “I hope this thing comes together soon. I’m just going to leave it at that. I’m not going to say very much until it gets done, then I am just going to say we are glad to have him. Which we are or will be.”
Brown also pointed out that annual negotiations with Hendrickson have never been easy and that Hendrickson is an “emotional” player, but they have always gotten done.
Asked about Brown’s comments, Hendrickson told The Athletic: “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. 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.”
Hendrickson joined first-round pick Stewart on the list of players not reporting to Cincinnati. Stewart is the last remaining unsigned first-round pick.
Hendrickson, 30, has been in contentious negotiations with the team throughout the offseason as he seeks an extension on the one year, $16 million remaining on the deal he signed in 2023.
Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin reiterated a statement he made at the NFL combine in February that the team intends to give a raise and extension to Hendrickson. The current sticking points remain the length of that extension and the amount of guaranteed money in that raise.
“He’s a guy who has been very valuable,” Tobin said. “Like I said before, he’s earned a raise and an extension, and we’ll continue to see if we can come together on something. Having good players is a good problem to have, and we’ve got a lot of good players, and we’ve got a lot of highly paid players, and fitting it together is what we’re working for.”
The Bengals finished with one of the worst defenses in the NFL last year and added a new defensive coordinator in Al Golden, but he will have to start camp without the NFL’s sack leader and team’s first-round pick. Hendrickson’s ability to drop right into the system makes his situation less urgent than Stewart’s, but Tobin still feels it as it drags into camp.
“There’s always urgency,” he said. “We’d like to get something done. I wouldn’t have said we wanted to give him a raise and an extension if I wasn’t serious about it. So whether it happens early or late, I don’t know, but right now he’s a part of our football team. I think that gets lost in the shuffle a little bit.”
(Photo: Justin K. Aller / Getty Images)
