ClutchPoints
The Cincinnati Bengals have had one of the most interesting offseasons in the NFL this summer, and now that is starting to catch up to them as the regular season approaches. Contract holdouts and negotiations became somewhat of a theme of this Bengals offseason, and that is still the primary talking point as Joe Burrow and company get ready for the season.
First is was rookie Shemar Stewart holding out while waiting for some language in his contract to be revised, and the Bengals finally got that done and got their first-round pick on the practice field even if it may have resulted in some unwanted hits on Burrow.
However, the bigger story is star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson, who has still not signed a contract extension despite holding out for one all offseason. Hendrickson is not practicing while the two sides negotiate a new deal, but there has been no traction on an extension.
Now, the Bengals are reportedly listening to trade offers for the star pass rusher as the two sides fail to get any closer on a deal. Hendrickson led the NFL with 17.5 sacks and is at 35 over the last two seasons, so there will be many teams lining up at the door to acquire his services. However, it will likely come at a steep cost both in terms of trade assets and financial assets with a new extension.
Here are three teams that should be blowing up the Bengals’ phones to try to get a deal done for Hendrickson.
The Detroit Lions had a very good defense in 2024 before it was ravaged by injuries, specifically to early-season Defensive Player of the Year contender Aidan Hutchinson. As a result, that very good defense became more and more depleted and got steamrolled by the Washington Commanders in a Divisional Round playoff loss.
Now, the Lions have a lot of work to do on the defensive side of the ball after the departure of defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, who is now the new head coach of the New York Jets. As a result, the Lions will need some more impact players alongside the returning Hutchinson to help complement new coordinator Kelvin Sheppard.
Adding Trey Hendrickson to this Detroit defense and playing him opposite Hutchinson on the edge would make this group nearly impossible to block. The NFC North is full of talented offenses in the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears, all of whom are led by some of the most elite play callers in the league, but building an elite pass rush is one way to slow them all down.
Hendrickson and Hutchinson would give the Lions the best pass-rush duo in the league and would allow them to do more creative things in the back end, so this is a deal that Detroit should be hot after in the coming weeks.
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