There is no end in sight to the Bengals’ dual contract standoffs. First-round pick Shemar Stewart
left Cincinnati on the last day of mandatory minicamp, while All-Pro Trey Hendrickson remains away from the team as he fights for a new deal.
Hendrickson is “very much dug in on his position” and will not sign a one-year extension, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero (via the “Rich Eisen Show”). The veteran edge-rusher is not seeking to eclipse Myles Garrett‘s $40M APY, but he wants something just above $35M per year in the range of Maxx Crosby and Danielle Hunter. Hendrickson is also looking for a stronger commitment from the Bengals in terms of length and guaranteed money.
Stewart, meanwhile, remains steadfast in his opposition to a specific clause that would void the remaining guarantees in his contract if he were to default in one year. That language is different than the contracts offered to the Bengals’ last two first-round picks, but it is the same as the majority of first-round picks around the league, including the players drafted right before and after Stewart, according to Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic. At least one person inside the organization believes that the language used with Amarius Mims and Myles Murphy would have the desired voiding effect in case of a default, per Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio.
The Bengals have options to end both disputes. They could obviously change the terms of Stewart’s deal to match those of Mims and Murphy, or they could offer him something elsewhere in the contract. Given that first-round picks all have fully guaranteed deals with preset slot values, the Bengals’ options in that regard are slightly limited. They could give Stewart more of his money up front via an accelerated payment schedule for his signing bonus or bigger training-camp roster bonuses.
For Hendrickson, the Bengals will have to meet his demands in some form or fashion. He is set to earn $16M in non-guaranteed money this year, which will not be enough to get him on the field. A two-year extension worth $71.5M would slightly outpace Crosby and Hunter, and guaranteeing his 2025 and 2026 compensation should get him upward of $50M in guaranteed money.
It’s unclear if that would get a deal done, but Pelissero said that the Bengals have “talked about a variety of options over the past several weeks.” He still expects the two sides to reach an agreement on multiyear extension, but there’s no timeline to getting a deal done.
