NFL sacks leader Trey Hendrickson remains on the sideline with stalled contract talks with the Cincinnati Bengals pointing to a prolonged absence from the team.
The Athletic reported the Bengals reached out to Hendrickson on Monday but conversations were fruitless. The defensive end is expected to be absent from minicamp as he looks for a new deal or trade that would bring him the payday he desires.
Cincinnati did get rookie defensive end Shemar Stewart in the building in a relative sign of progress. But Stewart, a first-round pick, is unsigned and ESPN reported he won’t participate on the field this week without a contract.
With a base salary of $15.8 million, Hendrickson believes he’s underpaid relative to the market value of the top-paid players at his position. He has a salary cap hit of $18.6 million this season and led the league with 17.5 sacks in 2024. No player has more sacks combined over the past two seasons than Hendrickson (35).
Hendrickson, 30, hasn’t been with the team for a month — since he came to the facility on May 13 for a face-to-face meeting with head coach Zac Taylor. Taylor told Hendrickson at the time the Bengals would have no choice but to fine him if he didn’t come to mandatory minicamp and training camp in July.
“A little bit transpired between me and Zac,” Hendrickson said. “We’ve tried to keep it as least amount as personal as possible, but at some point, in this process, it becomes personal.”
Stewart, 21, is not planning to sign with the Bengals until they adjust the language in their contract offer to match the outline of the team’s previous two first-round selections, according to multiple reports.
–Field Level Media
