Could Trey Hendrickson Reunite With His Former Coach?
The NFL’s leading sack man in the last two seasons, Trey Hendrickson, has requested to be traded from the Cincinnati Bengals after their decision to prioritize contract extensions for wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsThe Bengals have taken the rare step of granting All-Pro DE Trey Hendrickson permission to seek a trade. āItās been an honor and privilege to represent Cincinnati over the last four years,ā said Hendrickson, the NFLās sack leader. āI love this city and organization. I appreciateā¦ pic.twitter.com/7P7Hbe2Y9e
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 6, 2025
It makes too much sense for the Indianapolis Colts to NOT be the favorite landing spot for Hendrickson. He has tallied 17.5 sacks in each of the last two seasons for Cincinnati…under Lou Anarumo.
“He had me highly productive in his defense over the last four years. He’s going to do great things for Indianapolis. It’s a business at the end of the day and there are moves that are outside of my control. But I love him, I think he’s great and he’s going to do great.” Trey Hendrickson on Lou Anarumo in an interview with FanSided ahead of Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans.
The last time the Colts had a pass rusher record back-to-back sacks was Dwight Freeney from 2008-2010. Since 2010, Robert Mathis, Erik Walden, and Justin Houston are the only players that have recorded 10+ sacks with the Colts. Hendrickson has accomplished that feat four times in the last 5 seasons. In 2022, he would have had a chance at 10 sacks, but only played in 15 games instead of 17.
Just a year ago the 30-year-old was pleading for a contract restructuring, but his desires did not come to fruition. He is entering the final year of his contract and is due $15.8 million. On Wednesday afternoon, Maxx Crosby agreed to a 3-year $106.5 million extension with the Las Vegas Raiders, making him the highest paid EDGE rusher per year. Hendrickson currently ranks twelfth.
If the Colts were to acquire him, it would come with a new contract. It is almost comparable to what Chris Ballard did in 2020 when he traded for DeForest Buckner. At the time, Buckner was 25-yeras-old. I don’t believe Cincinnati will be able to net a first-round pick for him because of age and having to sign him to a new contract.
Adding a guy like Hendrickson would only help Laiatu Latu’s development by allowing him to see a lot more one-on-one reps instead of chips and double teams like last season. It would even help take the pressure of DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart in the middle. Plus, he’s a guy that can play almost every snap defensively. It would make guys like Samson Ebukam, Kwity Paye, and Tyquan Lewis expendable. Ballard can use any one of those players in a trade if the Bengals have interest, ahead of the draft for more capital, or even to another team to help address any of the positions of need for Indianapolis.
The other team to be on the lookout for would be the Chicago Bears with Hendrickson’s former defensive coordinator in New Orleans, Dennis Allen, being Chicago’s new coordinator.
If Chris Ballard doesn’t make this happen, then that means he hasn’t changed his approach with adding outside talent, the asking price was too steep, or Hendrickson’s contract request would have made things challenging for Ballard to make other additions to the roster.
