The locker room reason Bengals' Trey Hendrickson contract saga could go sideways

There's something different about Trey Hendrickson's contract negotiations with the Cincinnati Bengals.

It's not the negotiation itself. It makes sense that a superstar pass rusher like Hendrickson would want to be paid what he's worth, which is likely more than double the $16 million he's due to earn in 2025.

It's the locker room around him.

ESPN's Ben Solak sums it up well in a new piece: "Hendrickson seems to have more internal locker room support for a prolonged holdout than any other player I can remember. Everyone in a Bengals uniform knows he has carried that defense for a long time, and in no season was that more obvious than last year."

Joe Burrow has spoken publicly in support. So has Ja'Marr Chase.

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The Bengals' defense hasn't been good, but it's been Hendrickson holding it together by a thread. He had 17.5 sacks in each of the past two seasons.

Cincinnati can't really afford to lose him, so the only option is to find a way to afford to pay him.

But Solak goes on to speculate that Hendrickson could just reject every offer in hopes that a trade comes along later in the summer.

His Bengals teammates surely don't want to lose Hendrickson, but it also seems they have his back on this one.

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