The contract drama between the Cincinnati Bengals and Trey Hendrickson got public and messy this week.
First, Bengals brass commented on the situation while taking about it at league meetings. Hendrickson then quickly responded by going on a media interview of his own.
While Hendrickson expressed frustration with the level of communication from the Bengals and how things have been talked about from the team's side, insiders like NFL Network's Ian Rapoport continue to paint things in a positive light.
"The Bengals believe he deserves to be paid," Rapoport said. "The Bengals don't really want to trade him. They want to keep him. They want him to be happy. They want him to get a number he wants and they want him to play for them."
As Rapoport points out, there's one key thing here that often gets overlooked -- there's no deadline, at least not close. The draft would be one if the Bengals were actually willing to trade him. But otherwise, this could drag out well into the summer, if not beyond.
Obviously, that's not what the Bengals want. But they granted Hendrickson permission to seek a trade and it hasn't happened. The market for his position is relatively set, too. The team would appear to have most of the leverage given Hendrickson's age and those other factors.
At least for right now, nothing seems imminent as the two sides have now taken the public route to this standoff.
This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Trey Hendrickson saga gets update after DE trades jabs with Bengals
