The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - Trey Hendrickson seizes the narrative

Episode Date: May 14, 2025

The impasse between Trey Hedrickson and the Bengals took its most bizarre turn yet on Tuesday when the star pass rusher staged an impromptu press conference on the practice field at the team's facility during OTAs. The Athletic's Bengals beat writer Paul Dehner Jr. was there, and he joins Robert Mays on this episode of The Athletic Football Show to discuss exactly what happened, how it all transpired, how things got to this point, and, ultimately, where it all goes from here.Hosts: Robert Mays and Derrik KlassenWith: Paul Dehner Jr.Executive Producer: Michael BellerProducer: Michael BellerSubscribe to The Athletic Football Show...⁠Apple⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠YouTube⁠Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.socialFollow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.socialFollow Paul on Bluesky: @pauldehnerjr.bsky.socialFollow Robert on X: @robertmaysFollow Derrik on X: @QBKlassFollow Paul on X: @pauldehnerjrTheme song: HauntedWritten by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love SongsCourtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Athletic Football Show. I'm Robert Mays. A little bit of an emergency podcast today. We were going to start our lingering question series with me and Derek, but the Trey Hendrickson situation in Cincinnati and him kind of holding what amounted to an impromptu press conference on the sideline showing up in a surprising way at OTAs that were not mandatory. I just thought it was a strange scene and something you don't see very often.

He's really taken it upon himself to talk directly to the public. as part of this impasse with the Bengals. It goes back all the way to the Super Bowl when he's on McAfee and really has continued throughout the entire offseason. And I think the dynamics of this relationship between the Bengals and Trey Hendrickson are interesting. And I think some of the specifics about how he's trying to pull certain levers when it comes to leverage, why the Bengals don't want to pay him, how this organization operates.

There's just a lot going on here. And so to dig into that today, I wanted to invite our Bengals writer at the Athletic Paul Daniel Jr. who had his own interesting moment. with Trey Hendrickson, which you guys will hear at the top of this show. But, you know, Paul does a great job covering the Bengals. And I thought this situation and kind of what it's said about the NFL at large at this point in the calendar was really worth digging into. So that's what we're doing today.

And let's get to that conversation with Paul Daneer Jr. right now. Joining us today to chat through the latest developments in the Trey Hendrickson saga with the Cincinnati Bengals. It is our intrepid Bengals reporter at the athletic, the one the only Paul DeNner Jr. Paul, you doing, man. I'm doing great. It's probably never good for the Bengals if I'm coming to you from outside the locker room like this in May. That's not good. It was one of those things where, you know, we didn't have a space to talk about this.

And I was like, you know what? I'm not going to try to shoehorn this in 10 minutes into a larger podcast that we're doing. Because I think there are so many interesting layers to this, not just about Trey Hendrickson and the Bengals, but about how players are handling this stuff in general. and just the way that the landscape has shifted a little bit. And that's actually where I want to start. And this line of thinking and this line of conversation may seem a little inside baseball to some people, but I'm doing it for a reason.

So I just want you to let us know, how did this transpire? Like the idea that you guys had a press conference essentially on the sideline with a guy you didn't think was going to show up. Like how did you know this was happening? Whose idea was this? I just think that the organization of this is pretty telling because I think it's kind of rare and I'm sure it was shocking to you when you showed up to work this morning. I can't tell you. I think I actually had maybe one of the most surreal moments of my career today.

And that was I was walking across the street to go to Paycourt Stadium when all of a sudden a man in a golf shirt and a black hat driving at SUV stopped at a red light goes, Paul. And I turn around and it's Trey Hendrickson waving me over to the intersection. and go over. Imagine how stunned I am. I mean, this was not like, why would Trey Hendrickson be here? And so I go over and we're talking. I almost got run over a couple of times.

We thankfully moved to a safer space after that. And it was clear he was here. He came here on his own volition, and he came here to get some things off his chest. He felt like he wasn't being portrayed the way that he wanted to be, and he was in his way kind of taking things into his own hands because he felt like they were out. of his control. And so he came and he walked in and he hugged a couple of people and he walked

out to the practice field looking like he was somewhere between his job as a school resource officer and he had a tea time at 430. But I'm only saying that not to poke fun of him, but that's how out of place he looked in a OTA. And it was just like, it was so odd to see that next to everything else. But that said, it was sort of him then saying, I want to talk to the media. He called it media day. I want to talk. And he took, it's kind of a player. And to your point, players trying to find ways to take these things back into their hands and feel like they have some sense of control or leverage in situations that in a lot of ways have been out of their control was what today was. And it was surreal. So did he kind of call you guys over to the sideline? Did Emily Parker, who runs PR for

the Bengals? Is she the one that told you it was happening? Like, I'm curious who sanctioned this. I guess that's my question. Trey Hendrickson sanctioned this. I mean, this was that he showed up and that, yeah, he's there on the field talking to PR and they're having that discussion, what do you want to do? How do you want to do this? He just wanted to get his message out there and address it. And so after practice, he came over and walked over to all of us, which we were standing

on the side of this, you know, behind the end zone, essentially where we watch what is normally a very boring Mayo T.A. And he came over and he stood in front of us and talked for 25 minutes about everything and just wanted to kind of just say a lot. And he did and it felt like we were a little bit, he was a little bit on the therapy couch. You know, I think he just was just trying to get things out there. And we kind of took it all in. And but this was a, a Trey Hendrickson event. This was not something that was really organized. And to the point that I think there was talks of Trey wanting to go in and just do it at his locker. And I think the Bengals were kind of like,

I don't think that that's the place for this. You know what I mean? You go on the field. All the media that you want to talk to is here. Go talk to them there. That's so interesting. And I think you alluded to this and that how surreal the moment was where he called you over. But just the conversation in general,

have you ever been a part of something like this where a player has taken this level of authority on autonomy and explaining their situation directly to you guys like this? I mean, I cover the Bengals. So it happens. But not quite like that. You're right. I mean, not quite like this. I mean, we went through, we've gone through this.

I mean, we've gone through this with, I mean, how many numerous trade requests there's been. This stuff happens. And, you know, last year we had Jamar Chase, who didn't participate in training camp. And he was pretty open. He's generally an very genuine, unfiltered guy. And he was unfiltered when it came to his situation last year. And that was, I guess, in some ways similar to this. He was probably playing it a little bit nicer at that point in that he was involved in everything else.

But, I mean, look, this one was a different one. I mean, this was, it was just, this thing has gotten so contentious. And Trey kind of speaking a lot about how he felt like this week. We could have become personal because he got a message about how he would be fined if he missed mandatory minicamp. and he just kind of is getting him in his feelings a little bit. And that's part of why he wanted to let all of this out. Yeah, I want to talk about that in the timeline in a second. I just think that we've reached a really fascinating moment when it comes to how players interact with this sort of stuff.

You have the Trey Hendrickson media tour that's happened all the way back to the Super Bowl. I mean, think about some of the appearances he did on McAfee and just talking about how he wants to help the Bengals win the Super Bowl, rather whether that's him being here or him getting traded for draft pick. So that's kind of when it starts. It culminates in something like yesterday. You have him, I think, giving something to Adam Schefter earlier in the week, kind of getting that side of the story out. And then the same thing yesterday.

Adam Schaefter has a tweet where he talked to Drew Rosenhouse and about how Drew Rosenhaus talked to Bryant and Good Kuntz about how Jaden Reed is still the Packers number one receiver, even if they drafted Matthew Golden. And I think those moments probably seems small. but for people in our world, like this lack of veneer between agents, players, and the public at this point, has created sort of a fascinating environment where you get these messages that can seem a little bit unfiltered or a little bit more in, they're a little bit more direct than they would have been like 10 years ago. And I think Trace spoke to that multiple times today where he said, part of the reason I feel compelled to do this is that other players haven't done this and they don't think that they can.

and I think that we should have more of a voice in these moments than we traditionally have. And I think that's a really interesting way to frame it in the way that he did today. Yeah, it's, you know, the NFL has forever been about the players really don't have any leverage. And you have like maybe two times in your entire career where you have any form of leverage. And you've got to use those as much as you can. But I think players as it gets different, maybe try to find, discover other ways to find those. But it's challenging. Like it's challenging to feel like you have control.

It's not like any other business world. And so you feel like you want to just have control. And I think they search for any ways they can't. They're just hard to find. But you're right. Players are trying out different ways. They're kind of they're poking. They're poking the bear a little bit to see which way it is that they can get in

and find some sense of control and leverage over their own situation and one that just inherently built against that. Something he said that, he said it's really hard. hard to go through this and do what I'm doing and still be respectful and still be reasonable because it's very hard not to take it personally. And that's kind of what's jumped out to me over the multiple appearances that he's done over the last three or four months is that everything he's saying. And when you hear him articulate it, it does seem very reasonable. Like this isn't something where he's asking for anything crazy. And, you know, him saying,

I think I'm trying to be rational here. I'm not trying to take this personally. And then the other thing that really jumped out to me is I'm not I'm not going to apologize for the rates paying or the rates being paid to defensive ends around the national football league right now, which again is totally reasonable. Like that is a fine stance to take if you're a Trey Hendrickson and all of this. And I think that's one of the benefits of him kind of being out in front of all of this is when he's coming across this reasonable, it actually by definition kind of makes the Bengals look unreasonable on the other side of it.

Yeah, he's also stuck. He is also in a contract and an extension that he signed. He is sitting here in a deal that he has, what, one year left and 16 million left, and they have the ability to say, well, you are under contract, like it or not. And he feels like that was not the tenor of conversations in the past, that he feels like he can be made right. and the offers, whatever it is that is on the table, that, again, he doesn't feel like he needs to apologize for that. That's, that's also part of this. But, you know, he can choose to take those, not if that's worth, if that's worth it to him or not, or play this out. It is a very challenging

spot. And he called it a weird dilemma today for him to be in because he is kind of between a rock and the hard place. He can't do anything. He wanted a trade. They didn't make the trade. Like, he just wanted to get paid his worth. And he's kind of in a spot where he can't because he is stuck here. Anybody is under contract that he signed and he's stuck in it. And I think he just is feeling that pressure of discomfort because of that reality. All right, before we move on, we're going to take a quick break. All right, before we keep rolling here, I want to play you guys some of the audio from

the Trey Hendrickson interview because I think it's good to just hear it straight from him. Are you willing to sit out regular season games? You feel like if it came to that, that's something you feel like you might have to do to try to, if it came to that, you'd be willing to do that? Well, I can raise a hypothetical with a hypothetical. I wouldn't be standing here with you if I got the deal in January, you know. So to say I'm going to sit out or to say I'm not going to. What I can say is I'm very disappointed with the communication that's been had. Let's talk about why this happened today, and he was very open about this.

Apparently, Zach Taylor sent him a text message yesterday. saying that if he doesn't show up for mandatory mini-camp, which is in several weeks, it's three weeks from now, that he would be fined. And in Trey's mind, that changed the tenor of this interaction, where now it has become something personal. You're telling me 20 days in advance that you're going to find me if I don't show up for mandatory minicamp, and that's one of the first things I hear from you guys post-draft. So that seems to be where he really took issue in this taking a little bit of a turn. Would you say that's a fair characterization? Absolutely. I mean, he made references to shark attacks being provoked and unprovoked.

And I don't know if everyone was following the sharks. But it was, his point being, he feels provoked. He feels like that was an act where he wasn't just going to sit quietly and take it. And he kind of points out that he's felt like all of the times that he has spoken out, which is going on. This was the fourth major one this, this offseason, have been more so in response to things. said by the organization that he doesn't feel like he had any other place to go to respond to. And he's, you know, had many airing of the grievances there in terms of communication and all

that stuff. But yeah, this was this was a response to that and feeling like it felt like you're saying that this is definitely not going to get done. And I'm over here trying to keep hope that it's going to get done and would rather see a different line of the way that communication was going at this point. Let's go over the timeline of this because based on what he said today and based on some of the questions, I thought you guys did a really good job, by the way. That 25 minutes was like well pointed. And I think that you guys really handled yourselves trying to get the right answers out of him in that moment,

even if it was a little bit circuitous in some of his answers. I think he was swimming a little bit to extend the shark metaphor. But I think you guys were trying to do everything you could to get the most out of him. And I think I can't remember who asked the question. But I think there was a little bit of a line of questioning about, okay, why did you take that contract? and what was the dialogue between you and the Bengals last year? Was there an understanding that if you took this deal, if you had another good year,

that they would take care of you at a market rate after the season? And he seemed to indicate that was the case, and now we're at an impasse because the market for defense events has exploded. So can you just talk through a little bit of how you understand the timeline of the conversations and what comprised those conversations with Trey and the organization, let's say, over the past year? Yeah, well, I mean, you said it right. I mean, really, you have to go back to the point of signing that original extension

that added the year to keep him through 2025. Because when he did that and just added one more year and about $5 million on, I mean, he could have theoretically been coming off of his last year where he was running up for defensive player of the year and the sack leader and going into free agency. And we know what that market was and what it could have been. They had nerves about potentially getting franchise tagged in that situation. And so when he felt like he was in those conversations, it was, okay, if you sign this, we will take care of you if you continue to play at the level that you are. And I think that's where he feels like he signed that under that good faith, you know, and comes out of it.

Now feeling like that good faith trust was broken by the way things have gone down, both with, you know, the nature of what happened to the Bengals and deciding to keep T. Higgins. is the ripple effect of that is seen here? Because I don't know that that was originally the Bengals planned before everything that happened this past year. And that changes the dynamics. Then the market changes. Things change, man. It's like, that's the hard part is things change dramatically.

And sometimes you can be left. We always, we wondered this whole time when the Bengals had this thing in front of them, how are they going to put all the pieces together with the big three and Burroughs contract and all that someone was going to be left holding the short end of the stick. Someone was going to be left. and that person was in golf clothes on the practice field today. Like that's who ended up holding the short end of the stick right now, and he's feeling that.

And he's going to have a choice to take what it is. The Bengals feel like they have left comfortably for a guy who's, unfortunately for him, 30-year-old edge rushers are what they are, and that's a risk that they feel like they're taking. And so when you have that issue, you feel like you've got to make that decision if you're willing to go there or you just play, out. And as he said clearly, the only answer that didn't get expounded on today, which was, will you play under the current contract? And it was no. And so that's a decision that he's going to

have to make what that looks like if he can't agree to what's on the table. Yeah, that idea of, well, you sign the contract, you could have just played out the contract and been a free agent. To hear him say it today, he's like, I never would have been a free agent. They would have tagged me. And so that would have been another moment where they say one thing and then do another and you have a lack of agency as a player to dictate how it's going to go for you. And so I understand him being a little bit frustrated at in that area where they're saying, well, you sign the contract.

Well, it's like, yeah, but even if I hadn't signed the contract, I still wouldn't have been able to be a free agent. So I think that's a source of frustration here. And the other part of it is, again, this goes back to him being pretty reasonable. 30-year-old edge rusher, totally get it, right? You're 30 years old, it's hard to pay 30-year-old edge rushers. Maybe you shouldn't be don't want out a ton of money to those guys. The Neil Hunter is two months older than Trey Hendrickson is.

So even that, we just watched a 30-year-old guy get $35.5 million a year on an extension while he's making 21. He was the 13th highest-paid edge rusher in the league by AAV right now. And he was second in defense player of the year voting, led to league in sacks, and has been in like the top three in pressures every year for the last three or four years. If you're at Trey Hendrickson, it's kind of like, what else do I have to do to get to, get paid at a market rate. I'm truly doing everything in my control to be rewarded to the same extent that these guys who were in my exact same age bracket are currently getting rewarded. And I think he's record. You can see him trying to recognize exactly what you're talking about. I've tried every way. He's tried doing it behind closed doors. He tried last off season,

which really blew up in his face when he when he threatened to retire or be traded and it was nasty. And then he said, you know what? I will. I'll show up and I'll play great. And that will get me the deal they'll do right by me and he felt like they would again broken trust and all of that stuff comes up and said this year can maybe i'll handle it better this year this year i'll try to handle it better by approaching it a different way and try to be tactful just but again just wanting to get what he feels like his his market value i go i go back to this whole thing feels so avoidable it's hard not to watch it today and say how avoidable this was not that they necessary because if you if you're the Bengals and you didn't want to pay him because of all the reasons that we've laid out and the other commitments that they have,

then you can sit there and you can say, okay, on March 6th, when permission was granted to seek a trade and all the best offers came in, and it was the Sunday before free agency, take the best offer and trade the man. No one would fault you for that. Take the $16 million you have coming to you, use it in free agency on a couple people to help bridge it. take your extra pick, use that to throw in there to help Bridget as well, and move forward. If it's really about killing the drama, if it's really about moving on and all of that. You could have ended this, and then you could have signed T. and Jamar that week and done, and Mike G. and Freacency and all the things, check all borough's boxes and gotten young on defense and done all of those things.

But they didn't. They didn't want to do that. They said, we'll fight the fight. You know, they'll fight. And so here they are now having. to fight the fight when it just feels like it very much could have been avoided because it's either you felt this way or you didn't you knew you knew where he was in the pecking order between T and Jammar and all those guys and that's that's fine like no no one's you guys use your money how you want to but I think his point is then then go the other way don't don't drag me through let's not drag this out and go through this again nobody wants that but they're kind of in it now all right before we move on we're going to take one more quick break

I'm going to ask a question that seems very simple, and I don't even mean this in a combative way. The Bengals have $67 million in cap space next year. Why can't they resign Trey Hendrickson to a market extension where he makes like 25 million against the cap next year and then it goes up a little bit the next year? Like, why is that totally off the table? I find myself asking these stupid questions about this team because it's not instantly apparent to me. why they would not be able to pay one defensive player after paying three offensive players? You're not wrong. I mean, they can do it.

They're just they're choosing to try to do so on their terms and what they view his value as. I think they will take dings on Trey Hendrickson for being not as great against the run and for some of a lot of his production coming against lesser offensive tackles, specifically last year, where he beat. up on a lot of backups and in some of the biggest games when they needed him, he was not as disruptive, right? And it's nitpicking in many ways. But I mean, these are the nitpicks that are being held against him and keeping them from wanting to go there with the age thing and everything else. I think they're hesitant for those facts. And it makes them, I think they can. But their thought

process seems to pretty clearly be at this point. We're not going to overextend ourselves for where we view your value at and we view your value at X and not where you think it is. And we are willing to just sit here and say you can either take what we're offering or leave it. And you're right, they can. I think they're viewing him the way they're viewing him right now. And it's understandable why someone would take that personal. How do you see that line of thinking from a football perspective. I would have traded Trey Hendrickson on March 9th. I would have traded him for whatever the best offer was right before free agency

started and got they needed to go young. The defense, he played unbelievable last year. It's 17 and a half sacks and they were disaster on defense. Okay. Like they needed more. They needed to get young. They brought an Al Golden to have this young defense, like reinvent themselves. And it just feels like a little bit of the ugly past still being there a little bit.

This is my, I would rather take the bet on going young than betting on you're going to get however many more years you feel like you need to get to validate the 30-year-old edge rusher contract into, you know, a year 31, 32, 33 seasons. I would rather take the younger bet. And I feel like they could have clean cut it. And that would have been the way to clean cut the entire thing. That's my, rather than just spending. And use that money to start doing what they should have done in the first place, which is go in. early on some of your stars, some of your developing players, whoever. The problem is they haven't developed many of those, but those guys will bubble up and extend those guys early. Don't let it

get to this spot again. And so to me, that was, that is a cleaner answer. If you're trying to really hit a, you know, they are kind of running it back on defense, but it does feel like a fresh start in terms of what Al Golden is trying to do to change things around here. And so it felt like this was the time, especially when they're so focused on getting rid of the drama. Like that has been a, they've been pounding the table on that at every time they're in front of a microphone organizationally because they feel like that leaked into last year and it did. And their slow starts and all that stuff. And so I just feel like it just take the drama out of it right away. Get young, be young, develop your young guys, give everybody those snaps. Was the cleaner

way to do this? Or like you said, I'm fine. Then pay try it if you decide this direction to go. But the middle, this like, should I, shouldn't I? Let's try to do it in this way. That's where you end up in these spots that I just think is just makes everybody uncomfortable. I'm so glad you said about the drama thing because that was going to be one of my questions. It's like, you know, it's such an interesting organization that's structured in a way that's very different than a lot of other organizations, right? Like Duke Tobin is the main team builder in the building. He's very much behind the scenes.

He talks to you guys a couple days a year. I don't think they really give a shit about what people on the outside are saying. about them and probably to their own benefit at times. But if you think that there are actual problems associated with this, if you think that the tension of going all, going the distance with these guys over and over and over again, because I like to play this out, what's the worst case scenario for the Bengals here?

If you, if he please well again and he does play at some point this year, and you have to tag him next year, then you're paying him a combined $46 million over the next two years, 47 million. That's not terrible. Right? But then you have to deal with the implications of one of your best players, again, playing in a contract year where he's constantly pissed off. And if you think that that has a real impact on what the locker room and the team feels like, the way that it did last year, that is something that's worth avoiding, even if you don't care necessarily about the optics of all of this and what it looks like outwardly.

True. I will say this, though, this is different because last year when you had Jamar Chase and T. Higgins pissed off on top of everything else. else, it felt different. It was more impactful. It had more of a filtered effect. This is now they have paid those two guys. And Trey, for all this is, has constantly been unhappy with his contract. I mean, since pretty much this team went to the Super Bowl and he was signed on that four-year deal at $16 million per that they signed him to and free agency. So this is kind of, I think for his teammates, this is kind of the Trey Hendrickson experience.

okay it's like he's going to be mad in the offseason he's going to be mad about his contract and he's going to turn he's going to go out on the field and he's going to play a little bit like an unhinged maniac and he kind of acts a little bit like an unhinged maniac sometimes in the off season self-admitted by him like pointing out he's got to work on his patience a lot of things he pointed out today like he understands he's a passionate passionate guy and so i i think for for distraction purposes it's a little different when he's the only box left unchecked because he's a little different when he's the only box left unchecked because because I think his teammates are very much used to this type of stuff with Trey, whereas the other stuff, when it was Burrow talking like he was and Chase and Tee and all of that stuff, that was much more changing the tenor of the locker room than I think this would be. Because Trey has had these feelings the last couple of years and then come back and had two great seasons. He's just played and done well, and I think the Bengals are betting that he will do that again. What do you think the prices? What do you think it would take right now if a team were to call the Bengals and said we would like to trade for Trey Hendrickson?

Well, it's different now because people have spent their money. The picks, you're not getting the pick this year, right? You're dealing with picks that would have to come in the future. They have to get an edge rusher back. You know, it would have to be somebody that has somebody that could be a band-aid that the Bengals could put in here because they don't have that. They would essentially be almost punting on the 25 season if they just didn't, if they just got a pick. I mean, they're a team that is built, what they're seventh in the odds to win the Super Bowl. Like they have Joe Burrow and these guys, they have a team that can do it.

And so they would have to, and when you don't, you know, that's hard to find that. That's a very limited number of teams that are left that could actually offer you something as a Band-Aid on top of whatever pick or whatever you think you're getting. So I just, it feels a little bit like that ship has sailed unless somebody has a very creative deal that they can offer. Perhaps that pops up. I don't see that. I don't see that coming. That would be out of the blue. Of course, Trey Hendrickson waving me over to the intersection was out of the blue today.

So who the hell knows anymore? I want to ask you because I think there are going to be a lot of fans of teams that are now saying, all right, make the call. Like, let's make this happen. So the idea that it's probably unrealistic, I think, is important level setting for, everyone out there clamoring for their team to trade for Trey Hendrickson. Before we move on, I want to play one more bit of the Trey Hendrickson audio here. I think every relationship is repairable, right? I think Miles Garrett proved that.

He's a great man and he's done great things for his family. And obviously providing on and off the football field, he's tremendous. But I think that relationship will repair with time. And same with this. This is just the uncomfortable business side that we've unfortunately had to deal with. for the last couple years. And quite frankly, I think we're all spent. Last thing I'll ask you, how do you think this turns out?

Like, how do you think this plays out over the next eight months in Cincinnati with Trey Hendrickson and the Bengals? I think in some way, shape, or form Trey plays this year. I know he said he's not going to play on this deal. But I don't see him sitting out. I don't see him being like, I'm just not going to play at all. I don't see that. And I think that's the bet.

And now whether it comes to a point where a week before the season, a day before the season, beginning of training camp, he says, you know what, this is the best deal on the table. This is life-changing for me and my family. I'm just going to take the best thing that the Bengals have right now on the table for me and I'm going to do it. Or he's going to say, I'm just going to go do it again. I'm going to go wreck the league one more time

and prove that I'm not old and all. these things they think. I'm going to play out of spite and I'm going to put up numbers and I'm going to go be a free agent in March and collect at some point. He hopes. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe they got 67 million in cab space next year, baby. And we're going to be in the same place again in 2026 where they say, oh, we can't let Trey Hendrickson go. We're a contender. And I think that's been, I'm sure he's feeling the same thing where it's like, I'm losing my mind. Every single year, I'm important, we're close, but I'm not worth paying at a level that all my peers are getting paid at. And I get it.

If he's 30, you can pick some of that production, everything else. He is as good or better than players who are getting paid at that level at that position. And if I'm sitting there with Miles Garrett at 40 and I'm making 21, you better believe you'd hear from me. And so I am not surprised that he has approached it this way. and I think he's tried to do it in a lot of ways the right way, even if it's been different, even if he's been a little bit more out there and forward facing than players typically are in this situation. I think that it's really easy to track why he has felt like this is necessary.

It's just been kind of jarring to watch happen in real time. And I'm sure you felt that way today. And I will say, I mean, I've been covering this team for 16 years. This doesn't work here. And I wish it was different. like it only makes the heels dug in a little bit more and so I don't I don't know that it's going to necessarily have an impact but I don't hate on a guy for trying everything at his disposal

when he feels like he's tried everything he has at all I just think it's a it's a spot that at some point both they'll have to figure out what this thing looks like and he's going to have to answer the question that he said no today are you really not going to play this year and that that's a hard question when you really look internally and the games get going and it's time to go play and your teammates are looking to you. That's a really hard thing to follow through on saying no on May 12th or whatever day it is

versus saying no on September 7th. And the history of that is not good. Everybody who has tried to do that has typically paid for it at the end of the day. And it's a little bit different when you're missing game checks, when you're getting fine every day for not coming to training camp. There's so many levers in the CBA now that make it difficult for players to do this. And I don't anticipate him going the distance on it in that way. Even if it doesn't change the practical.

reality of him getting a contract, there are, I think, downstream benefits of winning the battle of public opinion a little bit. I think it's still in his best interest to do stuff like this and have a voice in these moments, even if it doesn't end in the contract that he wants. And even if it's not at front of mind in terms of his own motivations, I would say that there's a little bit of that at play here at the end of it. So it's been, I mean, just very compelling to watch. I just, it's one of those moments where I'm, you obviously felt this way. I woke up this morning, did not expect to see something like that. And that's why I felt like we had to talk about it in some capacity.

And there is no better person to do that with than you. Paul Daner Jr. Sincerely appreciate the time, sir. We will do it again very soon at the next impasse and the next blowup and the next bit of tension with the Bengals organization and their players. Please let that not be next week. You know, can we just like sometime? Can we just give it a little bit further to the future, please?

All right, guys. That's all we got for today. as I promised, Derek and I will be back tomorrow with our first episode in our lingering question series from the offseason, just hitting a couple things that we didn't have time to really chat about during the regular season. can talk a little bit about the Titans offense. What is Cam Ward getting dropped into? What happened to Jordan Love? What kind of season of Jordan Love really have? I think we talked about the Packers at large a lot,

but what are we really getting with Jordan Love? And they're going to chat a little bit about Marvin Harrison, Jr. and what led to, I think, what a lot of people would say, is a mildly disappointing rookie year for a guy that came in with those sorts of expectations. So we're going to hit those as part of a broader discussion about a ton of lingering questions we still have from the 2024 season here over the next month or so.

For now, that is all we've got. Sincerely appreciate you guys listening. We'll talk to you very soon.