The Cincinnati Bengals finally came to terms with top draft pick Shemar Stewart on a deal to end the rookie edge rusher’s holdout.
Four days later, the franchise is one step closer to welcoming the top sack artist in the NFL back to the fold.
Trey Hendrickson is ending his holdout and will report to Bengals training camp, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero. This comes a week after the Bengals’ veterans reported to training camp on July 22.
Hendrickson is entering the final year of his contract and had not reported to training camp as he was seeking out a new deal. One week ago, Hendrickson had called the Bengals’ latest offer ‘atrociously low’ and did not seem any closer to ending his holdout.
Hendrickson is set to make $16 million in 2025 in the final year of an extension he signed two years ago. Since signing that extension, he has led the NFL in sacks with 35, including a league-high 17.5 in 2024. He finished runner-up to Patrick Surtain II for the Defensive Player of the Year award.
The most productive player on the Bengals’ defense in recent years is entering his age-31 season after making the Pro Bowl each of the last four seasons.
‘Trey Hendrickson is a fine player and a good guy,’ Bengals owner Mike Brown said on July 21. ‘We want him here. Dealing with him is sometimes not so easy. That’s all right. He’s got the right to argue his case, we’ll try to make sense of it from our perspective … as far as I’m concerned, the sooner the better.’
Brown reiterated that the team is not interested in trading Hendrickson away.
‘We are working on getting it done,’ Brown said. ‘We’ve been through a few — and he pushes hard, he gets emotional. We never have an easy time of it. And if there’s one thing that is consistent, it always gets done. I think this one will too.”
Many other edge rushers — including some in his own division — have signed extensions this offseason, including Myles Garrett (Cleveland) and T.J. Watt (Pittsburgh). Those two deals reset the market for edge rushers and at an average annual value (AAV) of $40 million and $41 million, respectively, per OverTheCap.
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