Trey Hendrickson And Shemar Stewart Contract Disputes Killing Bengals' Mission To Start Season Fast
Trey Hendrickson and Shemar Stewart both remain away from Cincinnati.
The Cincinnati Bengals this offseason think they've identified the biggest problem that has kept them out of the playoffs the last two years and that's their annoying inability to start seasons fast. So coach Zac Taylor has a plan to overcome this playoff-killing habit.
Taylor said on Thursday he plans to play his starters more in the coming preseason – obviously to have them ready to go for the start of the regular season. He added that veterans being asked to participate in multiple preseason games – which hasn't typically happened in the past – is "on the table."

Bengals Coach Zac Taylor is hoping for a near repeat of last year, minus that one big loss (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Zac Taylor: Starting Fast Is Key
The club will also have no joint practices with other teams because Taylor wants more work time to hone his team rather than invest in travel time or have to accommodate another team's schedule.
It might also help if quarterback Joe Burrow stays healthy during camp, something he's been unable to do in the past.
"I think every season's been different, you know, the reasons for our 0-2 starts have been different," Taylor said Thursday at the conclusion of the team's mandatory minicamp. "It's something we definitely talk about. And training camp will feel a little bit different in some ways.
"We're only going to practice with ourselves this preseason. We're going to let our starters play a little bit more, hopefully, in the game. Hopefully, it plays out that way."
And the Bengals will be practicing mostly in the mornings during camp.
"We want to think about what's the best thing for this team, the 2025 team," Taylor said. "Just because we've done it a certain way, I kind of said this forever, just because we've done it a certain way forever, doesn't mean that's how we have to do it."

Katie Stratman-Imagn Images
Bengals Slow Starts Have Been Rough
This is a lot of thoughtful work Taylor and his coaching staff have done to try to overcome the fact the Bengals started the 2023 season 0-2 and 1-3 and couldn't dig out of that hole well enough to make the playoffs.
They started the 2024 season 0-3 and, again, missed the playoffs.
But there's a major obstacle in all this good planning by Taylor.
Trey Hendrickson and Shemar Stewart get a vote, too.
And the team's best defensive player in Hendrickson and No. 1 draft pick in Stewart are so far declining to be part of all the offseason preparation the Bengals have already done.

Nov 17, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson (91) reacts after sacking Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (10) during the first half at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
Steward And Hendrickson Contract Disputes
And they might not be around for the start of training camp when that begins in earnest with players reporting the week of July 20-26.
Hendrickson, you see, is eyebrows deep in a contract dispute with the club that has turned ugly at times.
He's asked for a trade.
He's spoken publicly about his disappointment with the team.
And he's declined to participate in the offseason program, OTAs, and mandatory minicamp this week. Hendrickson is subject to fines for missing the minicamp practices.
Stewart, who is unsigned, showed up for the first day of mandatory minicamp but did not practice because he's not allowed to until he's under contract. He left Cincinnati before the end of minicamp on Thursday because, again, he is still not signed.
Stewart has been around the club but hasn't participated in other offseason activities, either.
There is currently no guarantee either player will have an extension, in Hendrickson's case, and a new rookie-deal contract, in Stewart's case, by the time training camp begins.
So both players might miss the start of training camp and possibly hold out longer until their contract disputes are resolved.

GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN - APRIL 24: Edge Rusher Shemar Stewart of Texas A&M poses with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after being selected seventeenth overall pick by the Cincinnati Bengals during the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft at Lambeau Field on April 24, 2025 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
Stewart And Hendrickson Not Present
That means that Cincinnati's two possible starting edge rushers won't be around when Taylor's grand plan for starting fast in 2025 kicks off.
"Anytime you have great players, you want them to be around," Taylor said, addressing the Hendrickson situation specifically. "And that's just a decision he's got going on right now. And we'll keep focusing on the guys who are here."
That is easier to do now than it would be once training camp begins and the pressure to be ready for the team's Sept. 7. regular-season opener at the Cleveland Browns begins to mount.
This eventually will be a front office problem. The Bengals need to pay Hendrickson. He's underpaid and even Vice President JD Vance, a Bengals fan, thinks so.
Stewart's situation, in which he's seeking guarantees that have been afforded other draftees but not offered to him, is troubling because he has been limited to classroom work rather than on-field work all offseason.
"It’s not the best-case scenario of how the spring could have gone for our first-round pick," veteran center Ted Karras told reporters.
Stewart earlier this week said the Cincy front office is more concerned about winning contract negotiations than games. Maybe Taylor should think about that as he's trying to get his team off to a fast start in 2025.