A Cincinnati Bengals helmet Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Cincinnati Bengals appear to be facing quite a concerning situation regarding two of their star players as star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and star defensive end Trey Hendrickson have not been practicing with the team.

As Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk pointed out on Monday, Ja’Marr Chase and Trey Hendrickson have both missed multiple practices, seemingly as a result of contract disputes with the team as both are discontent with their current contracts.

“Star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase hasn’t practiced since camp opened, and although he and coach Zac Taylor won’t say why, Chase obviously wants to get paid a lot more money than the $1.055 million base salary he’s due this year. Bengals owner Mike Brown has indicated he doesn’t see a new contract for Chase coming any time soon. They’re at an impasse and Chase appears to be in no hurry to get on the field for a team that won’t pay him what he thinks a player of his caliber deserves,” Smith wrote for Pro Football Talk.

“And defensive end Trey Hendrickson has now missed three practices in a row after participating on the first day of training camp. Hendrickson requested a trade early in the offseason, but he later said he wants to play for the Bengals a long time. Hendrickson is due to make $15 million this season and $16 million next season, so he’s not as underpaid as Chase is, but he clearly thinks he deserves more. Given that he has 39.5 sacks in his three seasons with the Bengals, including a career-high 17.5 last year, it’s hard to disagree.”

Needless to say, this is a pretty brutal situation for the Bengals, and it led to a lot of reactions on social media.

People were interested in these podcasts
Play Episode
55min
The Play-By-Play
Kendrick Perkins and NIL, ESPN NBA broadcasters, World Cup rights competition
Kendrick Perkins' NIL company taking advantage of high school athletes? ESPN announces their NBA broadcasters but don't announce specific teams. Fox expected to get some competition for World Cup rights. Awful Announcing's Ben Axelrod and Drew Lerner discuss these topics and more on the latest episode of The Play-By-Play.Time Stamps:-1:05: ESPN 2024-25 NBA broadcaster announcement-21:31: Dan Murphy’s article on Kendrick Perkins’ NIL company-33:40: Feedback from last week’s NFL broadcasters draft-44:17: FIFA World Cup rights-49:22: TBS baseball scorebugYou can subscribe to The Play-By-Play wherever podcasts are found. Please subscribe, rate and review!Download The Play-By-Play:Listen on AppleListen on SpotifyAwful Announcing on XAwful Announcing on FacebookAwful Announcing on InstagramAwful Announcing on ThreadsAwful Announcing on BlueSkyAwful Announcing on LinkedIn Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Play-By-Play
Tom Brady's Super Bowl work, NFL MVP/All-Pro voting, Dan Orlovsky weighs options
How did Tom Brady do in his first Super Bowl as a broadcaster? Why did people vote Lamar Jackson for first team All-Pro but vote Josh Allen for MVP? Dan Orlovsky may leave ESPN? Awful Announcing's Ben Axelrod and Brendon Kleen discuss these topics and more, including Adam Silver's reaction to NBA criticism on the latest episode of The Play-By-Play.Time Stamps:-:44: Fox’s Super Bowl broadcast/Tom Brady’s Super Bowl performance-21:40 NFL MVP/All-Pro voting-27:01: Dan Orlovsky weighing his options-34:02: NBC studio setup entering Super Bowl season-39:00: NFL Draft-45:50: Adam Silver and NBA criticism-54:44: Ex-Patriots players taking over NFL media landscape-1:00:13: Unrivaled 1-on-1 TournamentYou can subscribe to The Play-By-Play wherever podcasts are found. Please subscribe, rate and review!Download The Play-By-Play:Listen on AppleListen on SpotifyAwful Announcing on XAwful Announcing on FacebookAwful Announcing on InstagramAwful Announcing on ThreadsAwful Announcing on BlueSkyAwful Announcing on LinkedIn Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Play-By-Play
Shams Charania joins ESPN, MLB's future on ESPN, NFL announcer fantasy draft
Shams Charania is heading to ESPN to replace Adrian Wojnarowski. AEW renews their media rights deal with Warner Bros. Discovery. MLB and ESPN are reportedly negotiating a change in their rights deal. Awful Announcing's Brendon Kleen and Ben Axelrod discuss these topics and more as Drew Lerner stops by to participate in an NFL broadcaster fantasy draft on the latest episode of The Play-By-Play.Time Stamps:-1:21: Shams Charania joins ESPN-13:31: NFL broadcaster fantasy draft with Drew Lerner-49:46: AEW’s new media rights deal with WBD-54:25: MLB's future on ESPNYou can subscribe to The Play-By-Play wherever podcasts are found. Please subscribe, rate and review!Download The Play-By-Play:Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-play-by-play/id1763654809Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4HaEA8ssc7LpPoJ8pKT1hk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The Play-By-Play
ESPN and MLB split, Jay Caspian Kang joins for Stephen A. Smith political talk
What is Stephen A. Smith's political endgame? The New Yorker's Jay Caspian King joins Awful Announcing's Ben Axelrod and Brendon Kleen to discuss. Ben and Brendon will also talk about ESPN opting out of their MLB contract after 2025, as well as various NBA topics including Richard Jefferson and Brian Windhorst on the latest episode of The Play-By-Play.Time Stamps:-2:04: ESPN opts out of MLB rights after 2025-20:36: View From the Subreddit: ESPN Edition-26:14: “Court of Gold”-39:02: The New Yorker’s Jay Caspian Kang joins to discuss Stephen A. Smith’s political aspirations-1:03:34: Richard Jefferson joining Mike Breen and Doris Burke on NBA Finals broadcast-1:07:23: Brian Windhorst a free agent after the NBA seasonYou can subscribe to The Play-By-Play wherever podcasts are found. Please subscribe, rate and review!Download The Play-By-Play:Listen on AppleListen on SpotifyAwful Announcing on XAwful Announcing on FacebookAwful Announcing on InstagramAwful Announcing on ThreadsAwful Announcing on BlueSkyAwful Announcing on LinkedIn Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’ll have to see how this situation shakes out.

[Pro Football Talk]