Bengals offer to defensive star 'closer to the top of the market'

There’s been plenty of analysis on the stalemate between the Cincinnati Bengals and defensive star Trey Hendrickson. We’ve continually heard that the main holdup between the two sides revolves around guarantees, and that still appears to be the case. However, when it comes to average annual value, it sounds like the Bengals are willing to make Hendrickson one of the highest-paid players at his position.

According to Albert Breer of SI.com, the AAV is “no longer the problem” between the two sides. Breer believes the Bengals are offering a contract that’s “well into the 30s” annually, and the offer is “closer to the top of the market than people want to believe.”

Just this offseason, we’ve seen four pass rushers surpass Nick Bosa‘s $34M AAV, with T.J. Watt now pacing the position with a $41M annual mark. While a Micah Parsons deal could slightly change the calculus, it sounds like the Bengals and Hendrickson are generally in agreement on the contract’s basic value.

The Bengals organization has traditionally shied away from offering guarantees beyond the first year of an extension, although they did buck that trend when it came to contracts for Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase. While those deals could have set a new precedent for the Bengals defensive leader, it sounds like the front office isn’t budging on their first-year guarantee stance.

There were some recent rumblings that the team was considering including some guaranteed money in the second year of Hendrickson’s contract, but it sounds like that still won’t be enough to satisfy the impending free agent. The Bengals are trying to point to the massive raise Hendrickson would see in 2025, but we learned that a $10M gap in guaranteed money still exists between the two sides.

There were once reports that the Bengals hadn’t offered a contract that even touched a $35M AAV, so from a glass-half-full perspective, Breer’s report seems like a positive step forward. However, there have been reports all along that a disagreement over guarantees were at the root of the showdown between the Bengals and Hendrickson, and that apparently hasn’t changed.

Hendrickson engaged in a brief holdout before reporting to training camp, but he refuses to practice with his teammates until he inks a new deal. The player later told reporters that “nothing has changed” when it comes to negotiations, so it sounds like this is a storyline that’s destined to continue throughout the preseason.