3 NFL Player Holdouts Headline The Start Of Training Camp

The start of NFL training camp began yesterday with teams such as the Dallas Cowboys, Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Commanders reporting for duty at their respective practice facilities.

For two of these franchises, certain players didn’t report to the team facility on opening day of training camp. The reasoning being largely due to their respective teams not honoring their contract extension requests.

Below are three players who withheld their services to begin training camp and how far along are they from their contract disputes being resolved.

1. Terry McLaurin, Washington Commanders

Despite leading the 2024 Commanders in receptions (82), receiving yards (1096) and receiving touchdowns (13), Terry McLaurin has yet to receive a contract extension as he enters the final year of his three-year $68 million deal. He didn’t report to the team’s opening day of training camp yesterday and even sat out minicamp as a sign of protest.

“I’ve been pretty frustrated, I’m not going to lie,” McLaurin stated last week about his contract situation. “Everything that has transpired up until this point has been disappointing and frustrating. I want to continue my career here. I’ve created my life here. My wife and I bought our first home here. This has been somewhere I’ve always wanted to be.”

Despite McLaurin’s emotions, he still desires to be with the team and not traded elsewhere. Whether that entails him playing for Washington in 2025 without a new deal remains to be seen.

2. Trey Hendrickson, Cincinnati Bengals

During the last two seasons, no player has had more sacks in the NFL than Cincinnati Bengals’ pass-rusher Trey Hendrickson. His 35 quarterback takedowns feature consecutive 17.5 sack seasons with his most recent one making him the NFL regular -season sack leader for 2024.

Hendrickson has developed into a four-time Pro Bowler and first-team All-Pro since signing with the Bengals in 2021. Two years ago, he agreed on a one-year extension ahead of the 2023 season and now wants a long-term deal from the Bengals since outplaying the remainder of his contract.

The soon-to-be 31-year-old told ESPN Adam Schefter that he wouldn’t be reporting to Bengals training camp until his contract dispute was resolved. According to Schefter, Hendrickson’s issue is that the Bengals refuse to guarantee his contract extension beyond the first season.

During a May press conference, the eight-year-veteran let it be known that he would not play another down of football for the Bengals until his contract situation is resolved. Earlier this week at the team’s annual media luncheon, Bengals owner Mike Brown placed the negotiation struggles between the franchise and Hendrickson on the player himself.

“We like Trey as a person,” Brown said. “He’s a good guy. But when it comes down to these negotiations, and we’ve been through a few of them with him, he pushes hard, he gets emotional.”

Arguably one of the other biggest hurdles between both sides coming to a deal is Hendrickson’s age. Cincinnati would be investing long-term money to a player over the age of thirty which is something it customarily hasn’t done for older players in recent years.

3. Shemar Stewart, Cincinnati Bengals

Cincinnati is also in strenuous contract talks with its other starting edge rusher in 2025 first-round selection Shemar Stewart. Stewart’s case is a bit more nuanced as the Bengals have offered him a rookie contract with a clause that allows them to void his guaranteed money if he does anything that’s potential conduct detrimental to the team.

According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, it’s been rumored that Stewart’s offered bonus payout structure is worse than las- year’s 17th overall selection Dallas Turner. Cincinnati Enquirer’s Kelsey Conway even stated that the Bengals gave second-round selection Demetrius Knight Jr. 75 percent of his signing bonus upon signing which is an offer Stewart and his agency haven’t been given despite being a first-round selection.

“I’m not asking for anything crazy,” Stewart said in May. “I’m not even asking for nothing. I just want things to be consistent. I just want consistent language as in the past contracts. I just won’t practice until I get that.”

There’s an outside chance that Stewart could sit out his entire rookie year and re-enter the NFL draft if he and the Bengals don’t come to a long-term deal at some point this season.