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."

It's been nearly two months since Trey Hendrickson has had anything to say about his ongoing contract standoff with the Cincinnati Bengals. Back in May, the 2024 NFL sack leader made it clear that he won't be suiting up this year under the terms of his current contract,

Cincinnati now can use San Francisco continuing precedent with mostly guaranteed deals for second-rounders drafted after the first two picks of the round. This gives the Bengals the specific leverage they expected to have when they first drafted Knight.