What Bengals' Trey Hendrickson, Commanders' Terry McLaurin are missing - ESPN

This is not what the Cincinnati Bengals and Washington Commanders wanted to have in common. Two teams with Super Bowl aspirations share a less savory commonality: Each has a top player who has been holding-in while trying to secure a contract extension. And how those negotiations proceed could help determine how their seasons unfold.

Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson and Commanders receiver Terry McLaurin will remain sidelined for tonight's preseason game at Northwest Stadium (8 p.m. ET, ESPN). Both veterans, who will each be 30 years old by the end of September, are angling for new contracts. And instead of practicing, Hendrickson and McLaurin have been spectators during training camp.

«It's part of the business of the NFL, and I don't judge it or get too worked up about it,» Washington coach Dan Quinn said. «The longer you've been in it, the more you recognize that's just part of how things go.»

Hendrickson and McLaurin are pivotal to their teams' success. If and when they can settle on new deals, they will rejoin squads with realistic championship expectations. Even though they won't be on the field Monday, they are privately putting in the work to play, whenever that time comes.

«You look around the league, it's most teams,» Bengals coach Zac Taylor said Aug. 10. «You keep the train moving and make sure everybody is up to speed. When you get that player back, whoever it is, however long they've been here, it's always different.»

Hendrickson and McLaurin had similar starts to training camp. Neither player reported with his veteran teammates, making both holdouts and placing them officially on each squad's list of players who failed to report for camp.

Hendrickson is coming off his best NFL season with a