July 17, 2025 • 10 mins
Sam Monson from the 33rd Team and the Check the Mic Podcast joins the show to discuss the ongoing Trey Hendrickson situation
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
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This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Hi, hello and welcome in our number three of Sincy
three sixty. I'm Austin Omore. Two hours down, one hour
to go. Let's continue the football conversation and topic of
the day, topic of the month, topic of the summer,
topic of basically everything has been Trey Hendrickson. And I
want to ask our next guest, Sam Monson, who's been
nice enough to join this show a lot over the years,
(00:44):
one of our good friends, now with the thirty third
team as a part of the Check the Mic Show
alongside Steve Palizolo. Sam Monson joins us now, Sam, thanks
for being here man. How you doing well?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
How about you?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
I am wonderful. I'm going to start by asking you
our poll question today, which which is this when will
Trey Hendrickson first play for the Bengals this season? Week one?
After Week four or week eight or not at all.
How do you feel about that?
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Yeah, I mean, I feel like they have to get
this done eventually. I would still lean towards Week one.
But the longer this draws out, obviously, the worst it
gets for everybody involved. I don't think it's like a
normal quote unquote sort of hold out a contract dispute
in that I think this is one of the few
cases where, you know, oftentimes players will dig their heels
(01:36):
in and they'll hold out, or they'll say they won't
play under a new deal, and most of the time
it's not really true. You know, it's it's posing, it's
a bluff. I think it's true with Trey Henderson. I
don't think he's going to play if they're not willing
to do kind of what they said they would do
all along and rework his deal and get it to
where he thinks it should be.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
What makes you think that Trey is different from some
of those other.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Players A couple of reasons. Number One, you know, he's
he's made a lot of money already. I mean, he's
had a big money contract. He hit open market free agency,
so that you know, this is not like it would
be if it was his previous deal where he was
searching for the first big payday number two. I think
because of the way the Bengals have sort of treated
(02:23):
this in terms of it's not like this is not
sort of the first time. They seem to have pulled
the rug out from under him that kind of argued
him away from the table the first time around instead
of said, look, we'll take care of you this time
next year. And now the rug is being pulled out
from under him, and then I think he just strikes
me as the kind of character who, you know, means
(02:45):
what he says in this kind of regard. He's not
somebody that wants to go public with this stuff, wants to,
you know, take care of his business in the public sphere.
The fact that he's felt compelled or forced to do that,
I do think he means it when he says things
like that, things like, look, I only want what's right
and I'm not prepared to play on the one year
(03:08):
deal that they have scheduled for me.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
He's not the only one that's gone public with his
frustrations this offseason. So has Shamar Stewart. That's an entirely
different saga. They also have a second round pick Demetrius
Knight junior that's not yet signed. Among those three, Trey,
Demetrius Knight, and Schamar what should the priority list be
for the Bengals as they go into training camp? How
should they knock those three out?
Speaker 3 (03:33):
I think Trey Henderson's the most important one. I mean,
that's the one where you need this guy. He's your
best defensive player. He was your best defensive player a
year ago. You know, you made the big moves this
offseason in terms of keeping the band together on offense
with Jamar Chase and t Higgins and you know, keeping
Joe Burrow happy. Now's the time to make sure the
defense has got something attached to it. And Trey Henderson
(03:56):
is that guy. And okay, it's a little bit of
a complicated deal because of his age, but he you know,
he doesn't want Miles Garrett money. There is room to
make this happen and keep your best defensive player in
the building and a guy who ultimately is an elite
level pods rusher the second round pick. You know, that's
something I think that's going to come. It's they're not
(04:18):
the only team. This is one where you know, the
Bengals are not the bad guy here. This is the
entire league effectively is being held up in the second
round because of the contract that the Texan signed with
their second round pick at the top, and it's kind
of it's messed everybody up. So yeah, that one I
think will get done eventually. They just need some dominoes
(04:38):
to fall first. And then the Schumar Stewart one is
very tricky because, again, on the one hand, you can
see Cincinnati's point of view. There are teams that have
this language in their contract, but it's difficult to break precedent.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
You know.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
It's one thing to have that as this is the
thing we always do, take it or leave it. It's another
thing when you're trying to put it in one year
and it wasn't there the year before. And so from
his perspective and his agent's perspective, they are quite reasonably saying, well,
you know, why wasn't it there a year ago for
a guy that was drafted lower than we were. You know,
(05:15):
why would you make that precedent now and make why
would we you sign up for it when the guy
last year didn't have to and the guy that before
that didn't have to. So that's that's what I think.
It's tough because it's a it's a legitimate staredown, you know.
I think you can see the cave from both sides
in that regard the other two.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
You know that the.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Second rounder is not really their fault. And then the
Trey Henderson thing, I think that's one where they do
need the cave, like Trean Henderson has the point there.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Yeah, I'm with you. The thing that's so annoying about
the Shamar Stewart side is I think both sides could
they're both right and they're both wrong kind of at
the same time. You talked about Trey's personality of maybe,
you know, standing on his word of sitting out games.
What would you guess right now would be the end
game for the Shamar Stewart situation.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Yeah, I mean this is a fascinating one because it's
a whole different world now with that it used to
be in the past in terms of the money that's
been made already in college and can be made. I
think there's a whole different world now of players having
the capacity to sit at for a year that didn't
necessarily in the past. You know, that was a thing
(06:26):
that wasn't always on the table to players who did
not have the financial resources to play hard ball and
to draw a line in the sand and say I'm
prepared to do nothing for the next twelve months, you know,
to work out at home, you know, or at my college,
not play football. You just prepare for next year re
end of the draft. You know you couldn't do that
(06:47):
financially in the past. I think you probably can now.
And this is really the first time it's been tested
in anger in terms of staring down the NFL team
and saying this is not a bluff. I am prepared
to walk away way from the NFL this year. I
can you know, I can live fine for the next
twelve months working at and preparing for next year's draft.
If you're not willing to take this off the table.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Talking with Sam Monson at Sam Monson, NFL co host
Check the Mic podcast with Steve Palizolo. Let's say that
September seventh rows around, and all these deals are done
and finished and cleaned up. The Bengals go to Cleveland
with Trey Hendrickson, Shamar Stewart, Demetrius Knight. The receivers are
taking care of this season. If that's the case, what's
(07:34):
the ceiling for the twenty twenty five Bengals.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
I think the ceiling for this team, The ceiling for
the Bengals is, you know, they're one of a few
teams that have a quarterback that's good enough. But the
ceiling is always super Bowl or at least Super Bowl contender.
I'm going to run once you hit the playoffs. I
think that's true for the Bengals, it's true for the Bills,
it's true for the Chiefs. You know, they've already shown
they can be in that category. Obviously. Last year was
(08:00):
a good season, but and they came short of making
the playoffs entirely. But if they made it in there's
not a team in the NFL that would have wanted
to see Cincinnati in last year's postseason. You know, they
could easily have shocked any of those AFC contending teams
if they had made the playoffs last year, the way
they were playing late in the year. So I think
(08:20):
that remains their ceiling. You know, it doesn't matter really
how it happens. It doesn't matter how they get there.
If they make the playoffs, this is a team that's
talented and dangerous enough to beat anybody.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Are the Bengals putting too much faith in the fact
that Al Golden's just going to fix everything on defense.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
I don't think they're putting too much faith in that.
Think that's a talented defense. It shouldn't have been as
bad as it was a year ago. So I think
you're gonna see. You know, there's there's an extent to
which just running it back again, just having another year
will have an impact and we'll see a better performance
from that defense than we saw last year. There's also
(08:59):
an argument that, you know, change for change sake when
it comes to coaching, and just changing the voice in
the room will have an impact as well, And I
think those two things together are really what they're relying on. Look,
number one, we should not have been as bad as
we were last season. At number two, we are going
to change it up. We are going to shift what
(09:19):
we're asking from you, what we're looking to do. So
I would expect that defense to be significantly better. I mean,
we're only a few years removed from you know, lou
Anarumo being one of the darlings in the NFL in
terms of the work he was doing on that defense. Obviously,
there's been some turnover. There's been some personnel changes, but
a lot of those players are still there. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Yeah, you're exactly right. And guys that Al Golden has
a little bit of experience with as well. His name
is Sam Monson from the thirty third Team and the
Check the Mic Show. Sam, where can people follow along
and listen to all your coverage you got coming up
for the NFL this season?
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Yeah, as you said, Check the Mike Mice is the
name of the show, So either wherever you get your
podcasts or on YouTube you can find us.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Awesome, Sam, thanks for making some time for you. Good
to chat with you again, man, anytime, Take it easy.
That is Sam Monson from thirty third Team. Yeah, that's
good stuff. He's right. I think we do sometimes forget
the amount of talent that is on the defense.
EASTCA Subs since e three to sixty of About Cincinnati
from Cincinnati, spontered in part by Pennstation East CoA subs,
handcrafted hot grilled subs, fresh cut fries and lemonade. It's
all about good taste. Pennstation East Coast Subs order online today.
This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Hi, hello and welcome in our number three of Sincy
three sixty. I'm Austin Omore. Two hours down, one hour
to go. Let's continue the football conversation and topic of
the day, topic of the month, topic of the summer,
topic of basically everything has been Trey Hendrickson. And I
want to ask our next guest, Sam Monson, who's been
nice enough to join this show a lot over the years,
(00:44):
one of our good friends, now with the thirty third
team as a part of the Check the Mic Show
alongside Steve Palizolo. Sam Monson joins us now, Sam, thanks
for being here man. How you doing well?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
How about you?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
I am wonderful. I'm going to start by asking you
our poll question today, which which is this when will
Trey Hendrickson first play for the Bengals this season? Week one?
After Week four or week eight or not at all.
How do you feel about that?
Speaker 3 (01:12):
Yeah, I mean, I feel like they have to get
this done eventually. I would still lean towards Week one.
But the longer this draws out, obviously, the worst it
gets for everybody involved. I don't think it's like a
normal quote unquote sort of hold out a contract dispute
in that I think this is one of the few
cases where, you know, oftentimes players will dig their heels
(01:36):
in and they'll hold out, or they'll say they won't
play under a new deal, and most of the time
it's not really true. You know, it's it's posing, it's
a bluff. I think it's true with Trey Henderson. I
don't think he's going to play if they're not willing
to do kind of what they said they would do
all along and rework his deal and get it to
where he thinks it should be.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
What makes you think that Trey is different from some
of those other.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Players A couple of reasons. Number One, you know, he's
he's made a lot of money already. I mean, he's
had a big money contract. He hit open market free agency,
so that you know, this is not like it would
be if it was his previous deal where he was
searching for the first big payday number two. I think
because of the way the Bengals have sort of treated
(02:23):
this in terms of it's not like this is not
sort of the first time. They seem to have pulled
the rug out from under him that kind of argued
him away from the table the first time around instead
of said, look, we'll take care of you this time
next year. And now the rug is being pulled out
from under him, and then I think he just strikes
me as the kind of character who, you know, means
(02:45):
what he says in this kind of regard. He's not
somebody that wants to go public with this stuff, wants to,
you know, take care of his business in the public sphere.
The fact that he's felt compelled or forced to do that,
I do think he means it when he says things
like that, things like, look, I only want what's right
and I'm not prepared to play on the one year
(03:08):
deal that they have scheduled for me.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
He's not the only one that's gone public with his
frustrations this offseason. So has Shamar Stewart. That's an entirely
different saga. They also have a second round pick Demetrius
Knight junior that's not yet signed. Among those three, Trey,
Demetrius Knight, and Schamar what should the priority list be
for the Bengals as they go into training camp? How
should they knock those three out?
Speaker 3 (03:33):
I think Trey Henderson's the most important one. I mean,
that's the one where you need this guy. He's your
best defensive player. He was your best defensive player a
year ago. You know, you made the big moves this
offseason in terms of keeping the band together on offense
with Jamar Chase and t Higgins and you know, keeping
Joe Burrow happy. Now's the time to make sure the
defense has got something attached to it. And Trey Henderson
(03:56):
is that guy. And okay, it's a little bit of
a complicated deal because of his age, but he you know,
he doesn't want Miles Garrett money. There is room to
make this happen and keep your best defensive player in
the building and a guy who ultimately is an elite
level pods rusher the second round pick. You know, that's
something I think that's going to come. It's they're not
(04:18):
the only team. This is one where you know, the
Bengals are not the bad guy here. This is the
entire league effectively is being held up in the second
round because of the contract that the Texan signed with
their second round pick at the top, and it's kind
of it's messed everybody up. So yeah, that one I
think will get done eventually. They just need some dominoes
(04:38):
to fall first. And then the Schumar Stewart one is
very tricky because, again, on the one hand, you can
see Cincinnati's point of view. There are teams that have
this language in their contract, but it's difficult to break precedent.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
You know.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
It's one thing to have that as this is the
thing we always do, take it or leave it. It's another
thing when you're trying to put it in one year
and it wasn't there the year before. And so from
his perspective and his agent's perspective, they are quite reasonably saying, well,
you know, why wasn't it there a year ago for
a guy that was drafted lower than we were. You know,
(05:15):
why would you make that precedent now and make why
would we you sign up for it when the guy
last year didn't have to and the guy that before
that didn't have to. So that's that's what I think.
It's tough because it's a it's a legitimate staredown, you know.
I think you can see the cave from both sides
in that regard the other two.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
You know that the.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Second rounder is not really their fault. And then the
Trey Henderson thing, I think that's one where they do
need the cave, like Trean Henderson has the point there.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Yeah, I'm with you. The thing that's so annoying about
the Shamar Stewart side is I think both sides could
they're both right and they're both wrong kind of at
the same time. You talked about Trey's personality of maybe,
you know, standing on his word of sitting out games.
What would you guess right now would be the end
game for the Shamar Stewart situation.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Yeah, I mean this is a fascinating one because it's
a whole different world now with that it used to
be in the past in terms of the money that's
been made already in college and can be made. I
think there's a whole different world now of players having
the capacity to sit at for a year that didn't
necessarily in the past. You know, that was a thing
(06:26):
that wasn't always on the table to players who did
not have the financial resources to play hard ball and
to draw a line in the sand and say I'm
prepared to do nothing for the next twelve months, you know,
to work out at home, you know, or at my college,
not play football. You just prepare for next year re
end of the draft. You know you couldn't do that
(06:47):
financially in the past. I think you probably can now.
And this is really the first time it's been tested
in anger in terms of staring down the NFL team
and saying this is not a bluff. I am prepared
to walk away way from the NFL this year. I
can you know, I can live fine for the next
twelve months working at and preparing for next year's draft.
If you're not willing to take this off the table.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Talking with Sam Monson at Sam Monson, NFL co host
Check the Mic podcast with Steve Palizolo. Let's say that
September seventh rows around, and all these deals are done
and finished and cleaned up. The Bengals go to Cleveland
with Trey Hendrickson, Shamar Stewart, Demetrius Knight. The receivers are
taking care of this season. If that's the case, what's
(07:34):
the ceiling for the twenty twenty five Bengals.
Speaker 3 (07:38):
I think the ceiling for this team, The ceiling for
the Bengals is, you know, they're one of a few
teams that have a quarterback that's good enough. But the
ceiling is always super Bowl or at least Super Bowl contender.
I'm going to run once you hit the playoffs. I
think that's true for the Bengals, it's true for the Bills,
it's true for the Chiefs. You know, they've already shown
they can be in that category. Obviously. Last year was
(08:00):
a good season, but and they came short of making
the playoffs entirely. But if they made it in there's
not a team in the NFL that would have wanted
to see Cincinnati in last year's postseason. You know, they
could easily have shocked any of those AFC contending teams
if they had made the playoffs last year, the way
they were playing late in the year. So I think
(08:20):
that remains their ceiling. You know, it doesn't matter really
how it happens. It doesn't matter how they get there.
If they make the playoffs, this is a team that's
talented and dangerous enough to beat anybody.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Are the Bengals putting too much faith in the fact
that Al Golden's just going to fix everything on defense.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
I don't think they're putting too much faith in that.
Think that's a talented defense. It shouldn't have been as
bad as it was a year ago. So I think
you're gonna see. You know, there's there's an extent to
which just running it back again, just having another year
will have an impact and we'll see a better performance
from that defense than we saw last year. There's also
(08:59):
an argument that, you know, change for change sake when
it comes to coaching, and just changing the voice in
the room will have an impact as well, And I
think those two things together are really what they're relying on. Look,
number one, we should not have been as bad as
we were last season. At number two, we are going
to change it up. We are going to shift what
(09:19):
we're asking from you, what we're looking to do. So
I would expect that defense to be significantly better. I mean,
we're only a few years removed from you know, lou
Anarumo being one of the darlings in the NFL in
terms of the work he was doing on that defense. Obviously,
there's been some turnover. There's been some personnel changes, but
a lot of those players are still there. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Yeah, you're exactly right. And guys that Al Golden has
a little bit of experience with as well. His name
is Sam Monson from the thirty third Team and the
Check the Mic Show. Sam, where can people follow along
and listen to all your coverage you got coming up
for the NFL this season?
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Yeah, as you said, Check the Mike Mice is the
name of the show, So either wherever you get your
podcasts or on YouTube you can find us.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Awesome, Sam, thanks for making some time for you. Good
to chat with you again, man, anytime, Take it easy.
That is Sam Monson from thirty third Team. Yeah, that's
good stuff. He's right. I think we do sometimes forget
the amount of talent that is on the defense.
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