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Ben Baby
Trey Hendrickson said Tuesday that he won’t play for the Cincinnati Bengals this season under his current contract in an apparent escalation of his dispute with the team.
The Bengals’ star pass rusher appeared at the team’s voluntary workouts Tuesday — not in uniform — and addressed reporters, a day after he released a statement to ESPN’s Adam Schefter in which he said the team has cut off contract talks with him.
Hendrickson said Tuesday he’s disappointed with the Bengals’ lack of communication and that the situation has become “personal.” However, he indicated his relationship with the team can still be repaired.
He said he felt prompted to address the media after coach Zac Taylor communicated to him that he would be fined if he doesn’t attend the team’s three-day mandatory minicamp, which isn’t scheduled to begin until June 10. He said the message “alludes to the fact that something won’t get done in that time frame.”
Hendrickson, 30, is entering the final year of his contract and is coming off his best season in the NFL. He led the league with 17.5 sacks last season and was named to the Associated Press All-Pro team, marking one of the Bengals’ first selections to the list since 2015. Ja’arrr chaseCincinnati’s other All-Pro selection last season, got a new $161 million contract this offseason that made him the highest-paid non-quarterback in league history.
Hendrickson has made the Pro Bowl in each of his four seasons with Cincinnati. In 2023, he was given a one-year extension on the four-year, $60 million deal he signed as a free agent in 2021. Last offseason, he requested a trade after the team opted not to give him a new deal. He ultimately reported for voluntary workouts.
Hendrickson is set to earn $15.8 million in base salary this season, the final year of his contract. In an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” last month, Hendrickson said that he’s not seeking to become the NFL’s highest-paid defensive end.
