{"id":23953,"date":"2025-05-24T23:14:34","date_gmt":"2025-05-24T23:14:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=23953"},"modified":"2025-05-24T23:14:34","modified_gmt":"2025-05-24T23:14:34","slug":"breaking-bengals-contract-issues-mount-with-hendrickson-stewart-holdouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=23953","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING : Bengals&#8217; contract issues mount with Hendrickson, Stewart holdouts"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Trey-Hendrickson-1.jpg?w=1200\" alt=\"Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson (91) hangs his head on the sideline in the fourth quarter of the NFL Week 9 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns.\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The Cincinnati Bengals are once again under the spotlight\u2014this time for all the wrong reasons. Two critical defensive players, Trey Hendrickson and Shemar Stewart, are staging offseason absences that reflect deeper issues in the organization\u2019s approach to NFL contract negotiations.<\/p>\n<p>The Hendrickson contract dispute has escalated, with the veteran edge rusher openly criticizing the Bengals\u2019 lack of communication. After leading the league with 17.5 sacks and earning All-Pro honors in 2024, Hendrickson expected talks for a long-term extension. Instead, there\u2019s been silence from the front office.<\/p>\n<p>Moe Moton of Bleacher Report captured the tension well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHendrickson has been vocal about the lack of communication between the Bengals and his camp on a new deal. Defensive end Sam Hubbard has retired. According to Pro Football Talk&#8217;s Mike Florio, rookie first-rounder Shemar Stewart hasn&#8217;t joined the team because of a dispute over training camp bonuses. Cincinnati isn&#8217;t in a position to be stubborn with its best pass-rusher, who&#8217;s coming off an All-Pro campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On the other side, the Stewart rookie holdout is raising similar concerns. Stewart, the team\u2019s first-round pick, hasn\u2019t signed due to contract fine print regarding injury protection and training camp bonuses. His refusal to practice has left a void on the field just as the Bengals prepare to implement a new defensive scheme.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/motociclismo.pt\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/202505image-12750-scaled-1.jpg\" alt=\"Trey Hendrickson threatens holdout as Bengals refuse to negotiate new  contract before shocking fines loom over minicamp - Motociclismo\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Both cases are shining a light on longstanding Bengals&#8217; front office criticism. Fans and analysts are questioning why a team aiming for contention is allowing key defensive players to sit out over solvable contract issues. This criticism mirrors past disputes with players like Jessie Bates III and DJ Reader.<\/p>\n<p>The Bengals still have time to turn things around. A fair rookie deal for Stewart and a short extension with guaranteed money for Hendrickson could repair both situations. Until then, Cincy risks weakening their 2025 defense and further damaging their reputation.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trey Hendrickson and Shemar Stewart\u2019s holdouts increase pressure on the Bengals&#8217; front office amid contract criticism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23954,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[65,18,684,810],"class_list":["post-23953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cincinnati-bengals","tag-cincinnati-bengals","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-free-agency","tag-trey-hendrickson"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING : Bengals&#039; contract issues mount with Hendrickson, Stewart holdouts - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=23953\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING : Bengals&#039; 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