Ian Rapoport believes Bengals will pay Trey Hendrickson

Hendrickson is still waiting for a long-term deal.

Cincinnati Bengals star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson is still awaiting a contract extension as the 30-year-old pro bowler, who logged 17.5 sacks this past season, is entering the final year of his deal that is set to pay him $15.8 million.

Unlike Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, the Bengals have not worked all that fast in making sure Hendrickson is signed long-term.

Despite Hendrickson being vocal about his desire for a long-term deal, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport believes the Bengals will eventually lock up their star pass rusher.

“I understand he’s mad,” Rapoport said on an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show. “I do believe they’re going to pay him properly and eventually get this done, and he’ll be on the field, rich and happy. He wants a deal, but the team hasn’t shown the urgency that he wants. He deserves a raise. He is awesome, and he deserves more money.

“I believe they’re going to give it to him. It just hasn’t happened yet and they just haven’t struck the right deal yet. The Bengals are just a little bit more of a methodical organization than a lot of teams. We saw how long it took for them to do the Ja’Marr and Tee deal.”

This comes after Hendrickson released a statement Monday saying, “The offers prior to the draft did not reflect the vision we shared and were promised last offseason if I continued to play at a high level. Coaches are aware of these past conversations. Rather than using collaboration to get us to a point to bring me home to the team, they are no longer communicating. I have been eagerly awaiting a resolution of this situation, but that’s hard to do when there is no discussion and an evident lack of interest in reaching mutual goals.”

It seems like there’s a good chance Hendrickson will be a training camp holdout if no deal is reached before then. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.