Report: Trey Hendrickson unhappy with guaranteed money in Bengals last two offers: 'I was more than willing to take less'

As the Cincinnati Bengals get training camp underway, Trey Hendrickson is no longer around the team. The star pass rusher instead decided to relocate to Florida after spending some time in Cincinnati, training on his own. Hendrickson is continuing his contract dispute with the Bengals, wanting a new deal ahead of the 2025 season.

Guaranteed money appears to be the holdup, according to The Athletic‘s Dianna Russini. She spoke with Hendrickson on Tuesday, who said two offers have been made but the guarantees have not been good enough. From there, the decision was made to leave training camp so he would not be a distraction.

“They received two offers in a 24-hour span, none containing the guarantees past the first year he was looking for,” Russini said via X. “Hendrickson didn’t want to hear the practice whistles while being a distraction to his teammates, so he and his wife Alisa decided to pack up and head to Florida.”

Russini then provided a direct quote from Hendrickson on the situation. The Bengals star said, “I was more than willing to take less in some ways in order to make this work.”

Top pass rushers across the league have gotten paid this offseason. Two within Hendrickson’s own division — Myles Garrett and TJ Watt — have provided the biggest headlines. And then there is Micah Parsons, who is going through his own dispute at the moment. However, everyone in Dallas expects to get a deal done at some point.

Hendrickson is hoping to be next in line after monster back-to-back seasons. During the 2023 and 2024 campaigns, Hendrickson produced 35 total sacks, split right down the middle. His 17.5 this past year was good enough to lead the NFL despite the Bengals having an overall shaky defense. A first-team All-Pro designation was earned while Hendrickson finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting.

Unfortunately, it appears as if the contract dispute is going to continue. Reports have indicated Hendrickson could miss regular season games if an agreement is not found. And given the recent history Cincinnati has with slow starts, losing Hendrickson would be a major blow for a team with high expectations.

The Bengals will kick the season off on Sept. 7 with a divisional game vs. the Cleveland Browns. Another home game against the Jacksonville Jaguars will follow before heading on the road for an interesting matchup with the Minnesota Vikings.