Trey Hendrickson's Bengals Contract Talks Reportedly Held Up Over Guaranteed Money

The contract dispute between the Cincinnati Bengals and star defensive end Trey Hendrickson doesn't appear to be ending anytime soon, and one insider provided some insight on what's causing the holdup.

ESPN's Dan Graziano explained that the Bengals' "long-held rule was to guarantee no money outside of the first year," but they broke that rule in their deals for quarterback Joe Burrow last year and wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins this offseason. The team's hesitancy to give Hendrickson that same treatment appears to be what's causing the breakdown in negotiations.

"I don't know for a fact that future-year guarantees are the holdup in Hendrickson's deal, but it's a fair assumption to make based on what I've heard from sources," Graziano stated.

The dispute between Hendrickson and the Bengals reached new heights on Tuesday when he spoke to the media in the middle of an ongoing practice and revealed his side of the story. He told reporters that negotiations have "become personal, unfortunately," and indicated that he had a testy exchange with head coach Zac Taylor.

"A little transpired between me and Zac," Hendrickson said. "We’ve tried to keep it as little personal as possible. At some point, it becomes personal."

The 30-year-old is scheduled to make just $16 million in the final year of his current contract. After leading the NFL with 17.5 sacks last season, he believes he deserves to be paid among the upper echelon of NFL defensive ends. Cleveland Browns star Myles Garrett is the highest-paid player at the position with an average annual salary of $40 million, and Danielle Hunter of the Houston Texans, Maxx Crosby of the Las Vegas Raiders and Nick Bosa of the San Francisco 49ers all make over $30 million per year.

Unfortunately for Hendrickson, there simply may not be enough money to go around in Cincinnati. The Bengals spent big on their deals to extend Chase and retain Higgins, and Burrow is the second-highest-paid quarterback in the NFL. Graziano explained that the team was more willing to give huge paydays to those players because of their youth.

"Burrow, Chase and Higgins were all 26 years old at the time of their contract extensions. Hendrickson is 30," Graziano stated. "For a team that absolutely hates to guarantee money in future years, it's a lot easier to diverge from those principles if said years are the player's age-27 and -28 seasons, rather than his age-31 and -32 years."

It seems like there's no end in sight for Hendrickson's contract dispute, and the Bengals could be at risk of losing one of the best edge rushers in the league due to his unhappiness with negotiations.