Trey Hendrickson's plight to get paid did not prevent him from achieving his other offseason goal

Hendrickson made it clear to ESPN's Pat McAffe in April he wanted this honor, specifically to fill the shoes of his former teammate Sam Hubbard following his retirement.

“When you have things like OTAs coming and guys like Sam Hubbard, who’s been a tremendous captain for our team last year, that leaves a vacancy for that. And I’m excited to fill that, but how do we reach that before we get there? And those are the things that matter. When you’re talking about a Super Bowl, it’s in the little things and the little details.”

This was during the early stages of Hendrickson's contract negotiations with Cincinnati. When training camp was starting and he was still without a new deal, he once again brought up his desire for the C patch on his No. 91 jersey to The Athletic's Diana Russini.

“I was more than willing to take less in some ways in order to make a deal work to accommodate the presented needs. I verbalized to the Bengals that I wanted to be a captain, to lead a young defense. And once rookie Shemar Stewart gets back at camp, I want to pass along the knowledge that I have, just like Cam Jordan once did for me. As I see it, Shemar and I are not competitors, we’re teammates. I’m excited to go to work with him when the time comes.”

Hendrickson doesn't get to be a captain without his teammates voting him as one, so even after he missed the entire offseason program and only watched and coached for most of training camp, his brethren still had his back. He's one of four new captains for this year along with Chase, Hill, and Wilson.

A new deal, a new detail on his uniform, and a new responsibility. Hendrickson's walking into the new season as a new man.