Bengals learn two important dates that directly tie into Trey Hendrickson and Shemar Stewart's contract disputes
The Cincinnati Bengals officially begin training camp on July 23, but players will report to Paycor Stadium a bit earlier in the week. Veterans of the team will need to report by July 22 and rookies by July 19 as announced by the league Wednesday afternoon. Both dates matter for the Bengals beyond just the […]
The Cincinnati Bengals officially begin training camp on July 23, but players will report to Paycor Stadium a bit earlier in the week.
Veterans of the team will need to report by July 22 and rookies by July 19 as announced by the league Wednesday afternoon.
Both dates matter for the Bengals beyond just the obvious reasons of getting their players back together in the facility.
Bengals can now set two deadlines for ongoing contract disputes
Veteran Trey Hendrickson and rookie Shemar Stewart are currently in contract disputes and may not show up without their respective issues solved. They're each expected to report on two different days, which should make things easy for Cincinnati.
The Bengals should set July 19 as the deadline to get Stewart signed, and July 22 for Hendrickson.
Stewart has been adamant about not signing his rookie contract until certain default language is included in the offer. The language is new for Cincinnati as the front office looks to set a precedent with its first-round pick.
Since Stewart is not under contract, he can't be fined for failing to report to camp. He has no financial incentive to show up if he remains unsatisfied with his offer. His leaving mandatory minicamp before the final day concluded leaves that door open.
Hendrickson is under contract and can be fined for not reporting. He subjected himself to over $100,000 in fines for missing mandatory minicamp, and can be fined a lot more if he's away from the team during camp as well.
Neither side wants it to come to that. The Bengals want Hendrickson preparing for the 2025 season with the team, and Hendrickson wants to be taken care of contractually. Figuring things out before the day he's supposed to report should be the plan of attack, and talks resuming earlier this week gives that a chance of happening.
It'll be a distraction if either player's situation is not resolved by the time they're supposed to report for camp. Cincinnati has about a month to find solutions to both problems, or else the start of the regular season becomes a more definitive deadline.
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“As you saw last year, you didn’t see him give up.”
