Mike Florio explains why Bengals won’t budge in standoff with Trey Hendrickson

The Cincinnati Bengals have yet to work out the contract standoff with Trey Hendrickson, who is in the final year of his deal. Hendrickson likely has no desire to play the 2025 NFL season with no protection, seeing that he's 30 years old and an injury could affect his last major contract.

It's understandable why Hendrickson is playing hardball in this situation, but why are the Bengals? Cincinnati have Super Bowl aspirations, and one of the bright spots on defense has been Hendrickson with his back-to-back 17.5 sack seasons.

As a result, the question that many are asking is why not pay the player and keep him, as the franchise must take advantage of the Joe Burrow window. Nonetheless, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio appeared Tuesday on "The Rich Eisen Show" and explained the Bengals' reasoning for playing hardball with Hendrickson.

MORE: Trey Hendrickson's holdout cost Bengals star a ton of money

"The team wants the players to understand who's in charge," Florio told Eisen. "We own the machine. You are just a piece in the machine who inevitably will be removed and replaced with someone else. The machine will survive for decades, if not centuries, beyond your existence.

"That is the message. So we are not bending to you. You will bend to us. And that's why I think the pressure, the urgency to get a deal done that comes from a normal holdout, isn't going to affect the Bengals. They don't care.

"Hey, Trey Hendrickson. You want to pay us $50,000 a day to hold out at training camp? Fine. We'll take your money. Hey, you want to give up your game checks of nearly $1 million a week? Fine. We'll keep your money. We don't care. We're not going to panic. We're not going to blink. You stay home until you decide to show up."

💻 @ProFootballTalk

Shemar Stewart has finally arrived in Bengals camp but the Cincinnati power trip continues when it comes to Trey Hendrickson — what gives?#NFL#RuleTheJunglepic.twitter.com/K2w3GegUs5

— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) July 29, 2025

If this is indeed the stance that the Bengals are taking then they're okay with Hendrickson not playing at all in 2025. The ball is now in the veteran pass rusher's hands, and whether he wants to play or agree to what Cincinnati is offering for an extension or stick to his stance and not risk an injury heading into free agency.