Out of all the major contracts and extensions that have been signed this offseason, perhaps two of the most important ones are those that haven’t even been signed yet. While the rest of the league is enjoying their spoils and preparing for the upcoming 2025 regular season, Micah Parsons and Trey Hendrickson are still waiting to get paid.
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Unfortunately, for both of the star pass rushers, it doesn’t appear as if a paycheck is anywhere in the near future. In the case of the Cincinnati Bengal, however, there’s a reported $16-million issue that is standing in the way.
The NFL’s premier insider, Adam Schefter, recently joined the cast of The Pat McAfee Show to discuss the futures of both men, and for Hendrickson, the devil appears to be in the details. “I don’t think it’s really different today than what has happened all along,” Schefter suggested.
“He’s asked for a trade… The Bengals would almost have to be willing to look the other way and say ‘We’re going to take fifty cents on the dollar to trade him,’ which they have never been willing to do… Trey has been emphatic, on the record, publicly, about the fact that he’s not going to play this season on his existing contract that’s scheduled to pay him $16 million this year.”
According to Schefter, Hendrickson is “a man of principle,” so it’s incredibly likely that he will keep his promise of not playing for the Bengals on his current salary. Much to the dismay of the Who Dey nation, it seems as if they will be losing the back-to-back sack king after all.
As far as Parsons and the Dallas Cowboys are concerned, things aren’t much better. In fact, he now believes that Parsons’ relationship with Jerry Jones is unsalvageable.
Jones has made several attempts throughout the offseason to circumvent Parsons’ agent and negotiate with him directly, which is not how business is typically done in today’s league. The threat of a sit out isn’t as prevalent as it is with Hendrickson and the Bengals, but Schefter believes that the two parties are now headed for the same result.
“It feels more likely that these sides are headed for a divorce today than they are for a new deal… I think that the most likely scenario would be that he’s there this year, his contract expires, they franchise tag him, and then after they franchise tag him, they have the ability to go trade him… There’s hurt feelings on both sides. There have been zero contract negotiation discussions since late March, early April.”
Hendrickson and Parsons are easily the most valuable names in each of the respective units, but it’s also obvious that Parsons means more to the Cowboys. Jones’ failure to get a deal done has caused the fanbase to erupt, with many now calling for him to step down from his position as the general manager.
Much to the chagrin of Dallas fans throughout the country, however, there’s about as likely as the team winning the Super Bowl this year, which is currently listed at +4500 odds.
