Joe Burrow sends Bengals message about Trey Hendrickson contract standoff

As had been expected, Cincinnati Bengals veteran pass-rusher Trey Hendrickson ended his holdout and returned to practice on Wednesday amid his desire for a lucrative contract extension. 

While speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow sent quite a message to his employer about Hendrickson's status. 

"This is the guy that has the most sacks over the last two years," Burrow said about Hendrickson, as shared by Russ Heltman of Sports Illustrated. "Production is value in this league. I know you can think you're such a good player, but to not have any production doesn't really matter. So when you have a guy like that, you want to reward him."

Specifically, the StatMuse website shows that Hendrickson has tallied 4.5 more regular-season sacks (35) since Week 1 of the 2023 campaign than T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers (30.5), who is second on the list. Watt reset the market for players at the position when he accepted a three-year, $123M extension that included $108M guaranteed before training camp. However, Dallas Cowboys star Micah Parsons will likely become the new highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL whenever those two sides come to terms on an agreement. 

Hendrickson is in the final year of his contract.

"It's not up to me," Burrow said about the Bengals potentially paying Hendrickson what he feels he's worth. "That's the business of the NFL. Not a lot of teams getting these big deals done early in the offseason, only a couple. I think it's pretty commonplace across the league to have these things done around this time, a little later towards [Week 1]. So that's probably what you're going to see."

Hendrickson initially stayed away from the start of training camp because he felt the offer he had received from the Bengals was "atrociously, atrociously low." More recently, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter said earlier in the week that there's a "big disagreement" between Hendrickson and the Bengals regarding how much guaranteed money will be attached to an extension. 

"He brings an intensity that is very unique, and so I think that's good for us," Burrow said about Hendrickson being back around the team. 

It remains to be seen if the Bengals will make Hendrickson happy enough for him to bring that kind of intensity to Cincinnati's regular-season opener at the Cleveland Browns on Sept. 7.