This is true, primarily.

There is a minimum active/inactive salary for players with zero credited seasons, then there is a maximum allocation based on draft-slot determined percentage of the league-wide rookie compensation pool.

There are some small exclusions, like minimum offseason workout incentives and community relations.

They have a little leeway to move some money up/down on player contracts, but they can't exceed the rookie pool allocation in the aggregate or at the individual level, and they can't go under the minimum in any year of the contract. Base salaries cannot increase by more than 25% from one year to the next.

Then there is the matter of guarantees. A rookie contract cannot be guaranteed for skill or injury or both in years 3 and 4 unless the entire contract is guaranteed for the same. Performance incentives can't be guaranteed at all. If the 5th year option is exercised for a 1st rounder, then his 4th year becomes guaranteed by default as does the 5th year.

On the guarantees, it circles back to what you have here...

Signing bonus payout schedules are a big hangup. Despite people thinking a player gets a "bag" up front, that's really not entirely the case. Sure, it's all guaranteed at signing, but they usually disperse it over a period of time because businesses do have to worry about, you know, cash flows and investment income.

Guarantee voids also factor in... They can absolutely write in voids of guarantees if a player does stupid shit. Let's say Rice had his contract guaranteed for years one and two, and he had a void clause, his 2nd year could have very well had the guarantees voided.

With offsets, any guaranteed money left to be paid on a deal if the rookie gets released at some point can be offset by the new deal he gets from another team, given that clause exists.

Stewart will probably bust but the Bengals absolutely deserve this for doing language ****ery with these injury waivers that 31 other teams aren't doing.

He's not the only draft pick holding out.

Every Bengals player, executive, coach, and fan should be in prison imho

Home Alone 4: escape from the Diddy White party.

Millions of people in this country are employed "at will". No contract. So yeah, millions of people go to work every day without being protected by a contract.

As we've discussed before, comparisons of NFL players to regular Joe's doesn't really work.

I wouldn't. The Bengals can eat a dick

I don't feel like typing out another reply, so i'll just copypasta what i put on the mothership.


Compared to other top EDs. The Bengals not only got Trey on a bargain basement FA contract, after he produced for them, they're now not willing to show him any love for their ROI. Even their extension last year was for less APY than any of the others, despite what he's done the last 2 years.

2nd contracts, APY, age when contract was signed, notes.
TJ Watt - $28MM (27 yrs old) extension coming
M Garrett - $25MM (25 yrs old) just extended/back loaded/3 void years/$40MM APY
D Hunter - $24.5MM (30 yrs old) 3rd contract (FA)
M Crosby - $23.5MM (25 yrs old) just extended/ 3yrs $35.5MM
T Hendrickson - $15MM (27 yrs old) (FA) / extended 1yr $21MM


Sacks since 2020 (and last 2 years)
TJ Watt - 54.5 (30.5 last 2 years)
M Garrett - 72.0 (28.0 last 2 years)
D Hunter - 45.0 (28.5 last 2 years)
M Crosby - 49.5 (22.0 last 2 years)
T Hendrickson - 70.5 (35.0 last 2 years)

They're simply tight-fisted penny-pinching skinflints who aren't willing to pay an older player, to show any kind of love or to say thanks for over producing because they don't want to take a chance on their ROI going in the tank. See; A Whitworth.

Add in the hypocrisy of asking for top return (because they feel that's what his worth is on the open market), while not being willing to pay top (not even near the top) money for the next couple years...because apparently he's not worth that, so what you have is a bunch of dim-witted jagoffs who don't know how to run an NFL franchise with the intent on winning a championship.

Trey Hendrickson planning to sit out if he doesn’t get paid. Your first rd pick sitting out.

Good luck with that Bengals!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bengals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Bengals</a> DE Trey Hendrickson said he received a text from HC Zac Taylor 30 days before mandatory minicamp warning he’d be fined if he didn’t show up — something that frustrated him, especially given the poor communication from the team throughout the offseason.<br><br>Hendrickson also… <a href="https://t.co/VEJBYby0Il">pic.twitter.com/VEJBYby0Il</a></p>&mdash; Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) <a href="https://twitter.com/Schultz_Report/status/1922335381837775331?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Those pesky soft tissue issues gonna flare up

Rauchbag said copypasta time for clay to get horny!

Extend me or trade me

Well, bye

**** the bungholes. Any bad thing happening to them is good news for the rest of the planet.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

The only outcome I truly envision is the Lions or Bucs putting together a day 2 package of a 2nd in 2026 and a 2027 conditional 3rd or something along those lines. I find it doubtful anyone is giving up a 1st for a 30-year-old player that they have to extend for 3-4 years and give a 36m AAV deal to

Get him a cheese pizza just for him.