Sportsnaut
After getting some terrible injury news on Tuesday, a bold trade idea could open the door to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers making a blockbuster trade for an elite pass rusher.
The Buccaneers’ 2-0 start to the 2025 NFL season has bolstered the hype that Tampa could be a dark horse Super Bowl contender. However, their chances of getting to the Big Game early next year were severely hampered when it was revealed this week that Calijah Kancey will miss the rest of the season after suffering a serious pectoral injury on Monday night.
The second-year player led the team in sacks last season and was primed to evolve into a Pro Bowler this year. The team doesn’t have internal options to fill the void, and the chance of a player with equal or greater value landing on the trade block over the next few weeks is highly unlikely. Or maybe not.
“Would the Bengals be MORE willing to trade Trey Hendrickson now because of the Joe Burrow injury?” Fansided’s Senior NFL Writer Macus Mosher suggested on X this week.
If you somehow missed it this week, the Cincinnati Bengals’ season is in big trouble. Early in their Week 2 win, star QB Joe Burrow suffered a foot injury. After further evaluation, it was revealed that he had a significant ligament tear that required surgery. The recovery will keep him out until at least December.
There is a very good chance it could become obvious quickly that the 2-0 team will not be a playoff contender this season. That could give their front office more than enough reason to get serious about trading Pro Bowl pass rusher Trey Hendrickson. There were rumors that they could move him in the summer, but their contract dispute ended when Cincy gave the pass rusher a sizable one-year raise.
Hendrickson is set to become a free agent after the season. If they don’t want to pay him what he is looking for and or use their franchise tag on him, trading him in a lost season makes long-term sense. And they could get a very good offer from the Bucs.
Tampa Bay has a real chance at a deep run in the playoffs. Adding a player like Hendrickson could bolster those chances just like Micah Parsons’ addition has done for the Packers. The Buccaneers also have the open cap space (via Spotrac) to fit him in for the rest of the season. If the Bucs feel this is their year, giving up a second-rounder for him is a real possibility before next month’s trade deadline.
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