For the entire offseason, the Bengals are doing what the Cowboys do best. Delay the contract of their players. The Bengals’ most reliable pass rusher has spent months seeking clarity. After leading the NFL with 17 sacks and amassing 35 in two seasons – more than any other player – Trey Hendrickson went from being a key member of the team to a contract ghost. A cold text warning of $50K fines. A permission slip to seek a trade. And a locker room filled with uncertainty, while Joe Burrow tiptoed around phrases like ‘distraction.’

And when Hendrickson finally found himself in a rare moment of transparency this offseason, he made a direct statement. “When there’s a lack of communication in any relationship, where it’s a business or personal relationship, lack of communication leads to animosity, and that leaves my narrative only to me with no clear direction,” he said in May. That’s not just tension, that’s Cold War-level frost.

And now, after weeks of stalemate, standoff, and strategic silence, Hendrickson showed up. In full Bengals gear. Not on a practice field, but inside Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, smiling and posing like nothing happened. The hospital’s Instagram caption read: “We had a great ‘dey’ at our @ryanfoundation #SeacrestStudios with a visit from @bengals defensive end @trey_hendrickson91! Thanks for spending time with our patients!” Was it a turning point? Or just a PR pit stop? The man missed all of the Bengals’ offseason programs, skipped minicamp, and racked up six figures in fines. And yet, he reemerged not with pads and a helmet, but with patience and a smile for kids going through battles tougher than contract disputes. This wasn’t a return. It was a reminder.

So what now? Hendrickson faces a decision: show up and ‘hold in.’ That new-age NFL tactic of being present but not participating, or skipping it all and letting the fines pile higher. Hendrickson skipped mandatory minicamp and racked up over $105,000 in fines. But even that’s a chess move. As Schefter noted, the $50,000-per-day penalty is often just a bluff. “Then they would just add in more money and say, ‘Here’s the money to cover the $50,000 a day,'” And here’s where things go from messy to ridiculous. While Burrow is dissecting coverages and whispering Super Bowl ambitions, Hendrickson is wondering if he should even bother packing his gear.

Joe Burrow himself admitted Hendrickson’s absence has been a distraction: “You’d love to have [no contract disputes], but that’s life in the NFL. We’re all supporting Trey and would love to have him back.” Translation: Yeah, it’s awkward. And yeah, it matters. Because this isn’t just a summer standoff. It’s the kind of internal fracture that can derail a team with real postseason hopes. Cincinnati already watched its defense crater in 2024. Now, the guy who was supposed to fix it might not even be there in 2025. So why hasn’t Trey Hendrickson been in stripes this offseason? Obviously, it’s about money. But how much?

Trey Hendrickson waits as Bengals stall on $40M deal

According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, Hendrickson isn’t even requesting top dollar like Myles Garrett. The Garret deal stands at $40 million. “[Hendrickson] would like to get a multi-year deal that gives him security and keeps him in Cincinnati…But again, [Hendrickson] has not been asking for over Myles Garrett.” The reported offer from the Bengals is about $28 million per year, which would put him one slot below T.J. Watt’s 2021 contract as the eighth-highest paid edge rusher. For an extremely important player, that is a huge ‘meh.’ The conflict now revolves around respect and not money.

As per Adam Schefter, “This is really troubling. I think because these two sides have been at this for so long, and yes, they’re talking, but they’re not making any progress. They cannot even agree on the length of the deal right now, forget about the numbers.” Not years. Not dollars. Just the timeline. And while the Bengals are fiddling with calendars and semantics, training camp is knocking.

So, Trey Hendrickson’s quiet return in Bengals gear might look like progress, but the reality hasn’t changed. Cincinnati is still playing a dangerous game of delay with its most productive defender. He’s not asking for top-of-market money, just long-term respect, and yet the franchise continues to stall over deal length and semantics while training camp looms. If they don’t move soon, this won’t just be a contract mistake; it’ll be a franchise one.