Joe Burrow Chimes in on Trey Hendrickson's Future With Cincinnati Bengals

CINCINNATI — Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson's hold-in continues. He hasn't participated in training camp practices, but has been with the team and was in Landover, Maryland for Cincinnati's matchup against the Washington Commanders.

Hendrickson is entering the final year of his contract and wants a new deal. He's scheduled to make $15.8 million in base salary this season.

Will a deal get done? Joe Burrow was asked about his confidence in both sides coming to an agreement on Monday night.

“Yeah, I don’t know," Burrow said. "I think, historically, these deals with us have gotten done closer to Week 1. I signed on Thursday before the first game and Ja’Marr’s started to pick up that week before last year too. And we were able to get Tee and Ja’Marr done early this year, so that was great. But I think historically the way we’ve done business is it tends to pick up here in the next two weeks, so we’ll see.”

Hendrickson led the NFL with 17.5 sacks last season. He has 35 sacks combined over the past two years.

There are reports indicating that the Bengals are open to trading the All-Pro pass rusher.

“I got nothing to do with that," Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said.

Contract Update

ESPN's Laura Rutledge talked with Hendrickson before Monday's game and offered an update on contract talks and trade negotiations.

"I spoke to Trey Hendrickson just a little while ago. He reiterated that guaranteed money is the holdup in these contract negotiations with the Bengals," Rutledge said. "They [Hendrickson and the Bengals] agree on the average salary. They agree on the years. But Hendrickson believes his play warrants more guaranteed money than what the Bengals want to pay. Hey, even though he turns 31 in December. Now, Hendrickson also confirmed that there has been no progress here, and he is prepared to sit out if needed. It's also worth noting that there's been no progress toward any trades either. That hasn't even gotten close."

Struggles on Defense Continue

The Bengals play the Browns in the regular season opener on Sept 7. Getting a deal in place before then is important—especially considering how much Cincinnati has struggled on defense in the preseason.

Their first-team unit has allowed three touchdowns and one field goal on four drives. They haven't gotten a stop this preseason.

“Preseason," Taylor said when asked about the struggles on defense. "I feel really excited about where our defense is at. We go against them every day, it’s tough. We'll continue to fix the things we can fix from the preseason game.”

Check out video of Burrow talking with Hendrickson below:

Joe Burrow and Trey Hendrickson chatting on the sideline👀 pic.twitter.com/DP1ydkr64v
— James Rapien (@JamesRapien) August 19, 2025

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