Cincinnati Bengals Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

The Bengals have agreed to boost Edge Trey Hendrickson's contract for 2025, ending the veteran's "hold in" ahead of the season. Hendrickson, of course, has sought a contract extension -- and, at times, a trade -- for the past few years. This solution gets him more money ($14 million, reportedly) without making the Bengals responsible for any more beyond this year. Hendrickson turns 31 on Dec. 5.

Bengals Edge Trey Hendrickson reported to training camp Wednesday, ending an eight-day holdout over displeasure with his contract situation. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that there's no deal on a new contract yet but that "the two sides will keep working."

The Bengals and first-round Edge Shemar Stewart finally agreed to contract terms Friday. Stewart -- the 17th pick in the draft -- will get a four-year, fully guaranteed deal worth $18.97 million in total, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. Stewart's reportedly getting "a more lucrative payout structure" than guys who went 17th overall before, in return for agreeing to the team's void language should he screw up.

Bengals Edge Trey Hendrickson told us all offseason that he didn't plan to play on the existing final year of his contract, and he appears to be making good on that promise. Hendrickson posted Tuesday morning that he's back home in Florida rather than in Ohio getting set to report for the start of training camp. Pelissero also reports that first-round Edge Shemar Stewart is in Texas -- rather than Ohio -- thanks to the continued dispute over his rookie contract.

Bengals Edge Trey Hendrickson showed up at the team's voluntary workouts Tuesday to speak to the media. According to ESPN's Ben Baby, Hendrickson said he won't play for the Bengals in 2025 under his current contract. Hendrickson had previously said that the team cut off contract negotiations and that the situation has become "personal."

The Bengals drafted LB Demetrius Knight in the middle of Round 2. Knight joins a defense that still has Logan Wilson and Germaine Pratt at the position. Knight's a bit of a curious pick. He's a nice size-speed combo, delivering an 81st-percentile speed score at 6'2, 235 pounds. He also tallied nice production over his final two years. That included 96 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, and 3 INTs in his lone season at Charlotte (2023); and then 82 tackles, 8 TFLs, and 2 sacks in his only year at South Carolina. Those two seasons followed four years quiet years at Georgia Tech, though. His breakthrough years came at ages 23 and 24, and Knight turned 25 this January.

The Bengals selected DL Shemar Stewart in the first round of the NFL Draft. Stewart drew attention with a terrific Combine workout, led by a 95th-percentile speed score. He added a 91st-percentile 10-yard split, 96th-percentile vertical, and 98th-percentile broad jump. The problem: Stewart's college production stunk. He tallied just 1.5 sacks in each of his three seasons and topped out at 6 tackles for loss in 2024. Stewart did increase his total pressures each year. His 39 pressures in 2024 tied for 47th among FBS edge players -- a solid number considering he ranked 65th in pass-rushing opportunities.

Bengals Edge Sam Hubbard has announced his retirement. Hubbard spent all seven of his NFL seasons in Cincinnati, after graduating from Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati and then playing three seasons at Ohio State (about an hour and a half from Cincinnati). The former third-round pick tallied 38.5 career sacks, with a high of 8.5 in his second season (2019). Hubbard served as a full-time starter from that year on and started 88 of 104 career regular-season games.

NFL Network reports that Bengals LB Germaine Pratt has requested a trade. Pratt has spent six years with the Bengals, 5.5 of those as a full-time starter. He heads into the final year of his current deal and will turn 29 in May.

The Bengals expect to miss LB Logan Wilson for the rest of the regular season after he had a "surgical cleanup" on his injured knee Thursday, according to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo. The injury dates back to before Cincinnati's Week 12 bye, first showing up on the Week 11 injury report.

Bengals LB Logan Wilson is inactive for today's game against the Steelers. That leaves Germaine Pratt as the lead LB and Akeem Davis-Gaither as the likely No. 2. It'll be just the second time this season that Wilson has not played every snap in a game, which makes it tough to know just how much playing time Davis Gaither will get. He's a shaky bet at this stage of the season -- albeit with some upside.

Bengals Edge Trey Hendrickson is officially questionable for Sunday night's game against the Chargers. Hendrickson followed a limited Wednesday practice by missing workouts Thursday and Friday. The Athletic's Paul Dehner Jr. reports that Hendrickson isn't traveling with the team but will travel separately and is expected to play.

Browns QB Deshaun Watson was less terrible than previous weeks in Sunday's loss to the Eagles but continued his run of lackluster production. He went a solid 16-of-23 passing (69.6% completions) at 7.3 yards per pass attempt. But his 168 passing yards marked a sixth straight game south of 200. And he boosted another struggling opponent pass rush.

The Bengals fear CB Dax Hill tore his right ACL in the first quarter of Sunday's loss to the Ravens, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Assuming that's confirmed by testing, it would obviously end Hill's season.

Bengals CB Mike Hilton (knee) is inactive for today's game against the Ravens. Facing a Cincinnati defense without its lead slot corner can only help TEs Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely, but we'll see if they get the targets.

Bengals HC Zac Taylor confirmed Monday that Dax Hill will start at CB opposite Cam Taylor-Britt to open the season. That means Hill -- who started 17 games at safety for Cincinnati last year, his second season -- has beaten out DJ Turner II. Mike Hilton remains the team's nickel CB.

The Bengals have placed CB Cam Taylor-Britt (ankle) on IR. That means he'll miss not only tonight's game against the Jaguars -- which Taylor-Britt had already been ruled out for -- but also three more contests. That obviously means you can go ahead and drop Taylor-Britt from your redraft IDP team, if you haven't done so already. D.J. Turner and Chidobe Awuzie led CB playing time for the Bengals in Week 12, with Taylor-Britt out. No. 3 Mike Hilton remained in his usual range. Hilton is the best bet for fantasy production among the trio the rest of the way. He ranks among the top 20 DBs over the past five weeks.

The Bengals have ruled CB Cam Taylor-Britt out for Monday night's game against the Jaguars. He might have been on track to return from the quad injury that cost him Week 12, but he sprained an ankle in practice this week. We'll see about Taylor-Britt's status heading into Week 14.

Bengals LB Logan Wilson left Sunday's loss to the Steelers with a sprained ankle. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reports it's merely a "minor" low-ankle injury, though. That's positive news for Wilson's chances of a quick return. We'll watch his status leading up to Monday's visit to Jacksonville.

Bengals LB Germaine Pratt is active for today's game against the Steelers. He missed Friday's practice with an illness that rendered him questionable, but Pratt should be ready for normal IDP usage.