Trey Hendrickson trade proposals: Could Bengals ship sack leader back to Lou Anarumo?

The Bengals told Trey Hendrickson on Thursday that he could seek a trade. The All-Pro edge rusher’s camp will test the market to see what teams are willing to pay the 2024 runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year.

His league-leading 17.5 sacks last year and 35 sacks over the past two seasons will entice every team looking to add juice to its pass rush. It will cost, though. Hendrickson, who turned 30 in December, is in the final year of his contract and currently owed $16 million. He’s seeking an extension closer to the top of the edge rusher market. The Raiders’ Maxx Crosby reset that number this week, landing a three-year, $106 million extension with $91.5 million guaranteed.

Cincinnati is unwilling to go that level, specifically as it negotiates with receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins on long-term deals. Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin said at the NFL Scouting Combine that the team plans to make Chase the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL. Higgins was expected to be the league’s top available free agent, but the club placed the franchise tag on him for the second consecutive season.

Assessing the trade value of Joe Thuney v. Trey Hendrickson (from today’s PD&Jay) pic.twitter.com/7zTkd8Mn5y

— The Growler Podcast (@GrowlerPodcast) March 5, 2025

That leaves Hendrickson hanging out there on a defense looking to go young under new defensive coordinator Al Golden. Paying Hendrickson near $35 million per season instead of filling the many holes on the roster with younger players makes less sense.

The Bengals and Hendrickson need to figure out what his market actually looks like. That knowledge could blaze a path to a trade partner or could get both sides back to the table with new parameters on their own extension conversation.

Tobin, at the combine, expressed his desire to keep Hendrickson with an extension but acknowledged that both sides have to agree on that number.

“Our preference with Trey is to have him on our football team because we want him,” he said. “So I never really talked about open preferences for trading guys because all that does is take on a life of its own. And that’s not something I want to do because I want Trey on our football team. He’s under contract. We’re looking to pay him for what we believe will be really good future years and we see him as not falling off in his career. That’s why we’re actively trying, and if we get to the point where we’re actively trying to trade him, maybe I’ll give you a call.”

Tobin didn’t call me directly, but that could be because his phone is blowing up with general managers from around the league.

So, what would compensation look like for Hendrickson? If you look at recent edge rusher trades, it’s clear a first-round pick is unlikely. Despite the production, Hendrickson’s age and the cost of an extension take it off the table.

Precedent from these deals suggests a second-round pick and change to be the likely landing point.

Who would be willing to make such a deal? Which teams are interested and what can they offer? Would these teams be willing to pay Hendrickson the extension he seeks?

I enlisted the help of The Athletic’s NFL writers to weigh in with offers. Five beat writers tossed in proposals for the teams they cover. Here’s what they looked like, with my final choice at the end.

Chicago Bears

Trade offer: No. 41 overall

The Bears have a major need at defensive end, a GM who has already made two trades this week, the cap space necessary for an extension, and a connection to Hendrickson in defensive coordinator Dennis Allen. Now, that can go a few directions. Allen was the Saints’ coordinator when they drafted Hendrickson in 2017. He was in that same post when Hendrickson left via free agency. We don’t know how much that potential reunion matters, but we do know that the Bears haven’t been afraid to use the trade market to fill premium positions. A Hendrickson-Montez Sweat pairing at edge rusher would be formidable. After the acquisitions of guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson, a new deal for Hendrickson could be too much for a team that still has other needs, but it’s still worth the conversation. — Kevin Fishbain

Green Bay Packers

Trade offer: 2025 third-round pick and DE Lukas Van Ness

Don’t let Hendrickson’s age (30) completely dissuade you here. The gas tank is still plenty full. There’s a contract extension to be given here, though, so that’s why the draft pick compensation isn’t higher. We throw in a young edge rusher with untapped potential to sweeten the pot since the Bengals might be interested in Van Ness, the 2023 first-round pick who has yet to break out and has three seasons left of team control.

The Packers’ need at edge rusher has been well-documented this offseason after general manager Brian Gutekunst said in January that the team’s pass rush was too inconsistent in 2024. The Packers want to generate pressure by rushing a traditional four instead of having to drum up exotic pressures and blitzes. Hendrickson would certainly solve that problem and instantly form one of the NFL’s best pass-rushing duos with Rashan Gary. — Matt Schneidman

Perhaps a change of scenery could help Lukas Van Ness reach his first-round potential. (Dan Powers / Imagn Images)

Washington Commanders

Trade offer: Washington trades No. 29, a 2026 second-round pick and defensive tackle Jonathan Allen for Hendrickson and No. 49

You may have heard that the entire NFL universe wants to send Browns DE Myles Garrett to the Commanders. However, Cleveland is currently blocking that door. Hendrickson is hardly a fallback option. Washington has needs in every position room — over 25 free agents will thin a roster — but an edge defender is priority No. 1.

The Commanders ranked 30th against the run in the regular season and then surrendered 430 yards on the ground in their final two playoff games. Washington finished 12th in sacks, but Dante Fowler (10.5 sacks) is a free agent. He also isn’t a thrèe-down player.

The Commanders will likely release Allen without a trade. He remains a solid lineman with an affordable $15.5 million base salary for the final year of his contract. Washington has cap space. I would rather the Commanders spend big on Khalil Mack in free agency than give up picks, but the edge defender need is real. That’s why we at least get involved in the Hendrickson talks. — Ben Standig

Atlanta Falcons

Trade offer: 2026 second-round pick and 2026 fifth-round pick

The Falcons should immediately offer this year’s third-round pick for Hendrickson. Oh wait, that pick now belongs to the Patriots because they sent it to New England last offseason for another 30-plus pass rusher in Matt Judon. That’s not a perfect parallel to this situation. Judon was coming off a biceps tear that cost him 13 games the previous season. Hendrickson is coming off leading the NFL in sacks.

Still, Atlanta might be hesitant to jump right back into this similarly shaped boat after the way the Judon deal worked out. He finished the season with 5.5 sacks and general manager Terry Fontenot acknowledged after the season that it was the wrong move at the wrong time.

Maybe Hendrickson would be the right move at the right time. He’s third in the league in sacks since 2019 with 70.5, which trails only T.J. Watt and Myles Garrett (and not by much), but he is 30. And he’ll require a big new deal almost immediately because he’s playing on the final year of a contract that pays him $18.6 million in 2025.

Atlanta could make this offer more palatable by making it the 2025 second-round pick (No. 46), but that would leave the Falcons with just one pick between the first and seventh rounds this year. — Josh Kendall

GO DEEPER

Bengals’ Trey Hendrickson quandary: Will NFL’s sack champ be traded, extended?

Indianapolis Colts

Trade offer: 2025 second-round pick, 2026 third-round pick

Colts general manager Chris Ballard usually takes a conservative approach to offseason acquisitions, but Hendrickson could be an exception. The four-time Pro Bowler is on a different level when it comes to rushing the passer, and he’s shown no signs of slowing down. Pairing him with defensive tackle DeForest Buckner could elevate Indianapolis’ defensive line into the upper echelon of the NFL and potentially lift the team back into the playoffs for the first time in four years.

Plus, from a coaching standpoint, there’s a lot of familiarity. New Indy defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo held that same role with the Bengals for the last six seasons, as Hendrickson played like a star during his four years in Cincinnati. Colts defensive line coach Charlie Partridge was Hendrickson’s college head coach for three seasons at Florida Atlantic, where he recorded 28 sacks in 36 games during that span. These coaches know how to bring the best out of Hendrickson.

Of course, the Colts would have to reward Hendrickson with a lucrative payday if they were to trade for him. He’s projected to net a two-year, $59.3 million contract extension, per Spotrac, and he may even want more years. That’s a hefty price to pay, but great players don’t come cheap and after years of mediocrity, perhaps this could be the first of a few offseason moves that put Indianapolis on a new level. In return for Hendrickson, the Bengals would receive two early-round picks. — James Boyd

The options

• Bears: No. 41
• Packers: No. 87 and Lukas Van Ness
• Commanders: No. 29, 2026 second and Jonathan Allen for Hendrickson and No. 49
• Falcons: 2026 second and 2026 fifth
• Colts: No. 45, 2026 third

If all of these teams put together extension offers that appeased Hendrickson and these were the compensation offers to choose from, then the runner-up for Defensive Player of the Year will no longer be with the Bengals.

Hendrickson will be a member of the Indianapolis Colts.

Taking one year of Jonathan Allen and moving up 20 spots to the back of the first round would be tempting, but in this draft, I don’t know how much difference there would actually be between 29 and 49. You will likely get a very similar type of player by the nature of how stocked that portion of the draft appears.

Jonathan Allen is an intriguing addition to a deal but not enough to put the Commanders’ offer over the top in this scenario. (Rob Carr / Getty Images)

The Bengals are also less interested in 2026 picks. They must restock now and take advantage of the plethora of quality defensive linemen in this draft class. That takes the Falcons off the table and lessens the allure of the throw-in by the Commanders.

I appreciate the offer from the Packers, but the Bengals are already worried about one 2023 first-round edge rusher who might be a bust in Myles Murphy, so they probably don’t want to take on another.

The Bears’ offer is nice and clean and would have been the answer if not for the Colts adding a little sweetener to the back end.

That leaves the Colts. Trade accepted. The pick at 45 with a 2026 third tossed in hits Cincinnati exactly where it needs it. That would give the Bengals three of the top 50 picks in this draft and two of those would likely be defensive linemen to go along with three top 100 picks from the previous two draft classes. The money saved with Hendrickson’s departure also clears $16 million to be more aggressive in landing a starting defensive tackle and edge in free agency.

Just to play out one vision of the entire scenario of the two-deep in this theoretical complete line rebuild:

Edge: Malcolm Koonce (FA, Las Vegas), Myles Murphy, Landon Jackson (R2, 41, Arkansas), Joseph Ossai

Defensive tackle: Levi Onwuzurike (FA, Detroit), Derrick Harmon (R1, 17, Oregon), Kris Jenkins, McKinnley Jackson

This also likely bridges the gap to finish off negotiations with Higgins and Chase and then allows the Bengals to grab a guard to compete to start the opener with pick No. 49.

None of this is ideal, of course, replacing the production of 35 sacks in two years won’t be easy, but a number of bets on young players for Golden’s defense could gain momentum to thrive in the aggregate as the year progresses. And, let’s be honest, it’s hard to be much worse than what unfolded last year.

Perhaps the Bengals are about to find out.

(Top photo: Jeff Dean / Associated Press)