Cincinnati Bengals star Trey Hendrickson is ending his hold out and plans to report to training camp on Wednesday, according to multiple reports. His pursuit of a new contract is far from over though. No deal is in place and the goodwill gesture appears to be just that: A gesture.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Hendrickson is going from "holdout to hold-in." So he'll show up to practice on Wednesday, but there's no reason to expect him to participate in drills.
Trey Hendrickson's holdout may be ending, but his contract dispute is not
Ending the holdout makes a lot of sense when you consider how much money he was figuratively lighting on fire. A $50,000 fine per day missed is no joke. But he won't truly be back in the fold until a deal is reached.
Adam Schefter had previously reported that the sticking point is guaranteed money — somewhere between $6 and $10 million's worth. Otherwise, it would seem the other elements of a likely three-year deal are in place.
The Bengals aren't the most aggressive franchise when it comes to guaranteed dollars, but they did deal it out for Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Hendrickson's age at 30 won't help him on that front, but he's held firm thus far. Who can blame him? He's coming off back-to-back seasons with 17.5 sacks. He led the NFL in that regard in 2024. Despite his age, his availability has been impeccable for most of his Bengals career. And Cincinnati doesn't exactly have much else to write home about on defense. They ranked 25th in points allowed last year with Hendrickson. Averaging 27.8 points per game doesn't count for much if your defense is giving up more than 25 points per game.
Hendrickson blinked first on the attendance question, clearly influenced by the potential for more serious financial consequences. Now the ball is in the Bengals court. How much longer can they let their star player on defense flounder?