Right now, Trey Hendrickson is still on the Bengals. You wouldn't believe it, but it's true. He's still super on the Bengals. And honestly, I love that for him. What a great place to be! Joe Burrow! Ja'Marr Chase! There are certainly worse places to be.
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And sure, it's hard to blame last year's sack leader for, you know, wanting a raise. But the Bengals seem like they're maaaaaybe out of money for raises this offseason (they're not, but, you know) which explains why everyone's so eager to hypothetically trade him somewhere. That'd be fine, if it weren't for the fact that everyone seems set on sending him to the NFC North. There are TWO teams in Southern California and THREE in coastal Florida cities, and yet everyone's obsessed with middle America all of a sudden.
The latest example comes from ESPN, who mocked up a bunch of different Hendrickson trades for the fun of it. I'll cut right to the chase: the following hypothetical Lions trade you're about to see would be a disaster. It's totally fake, but that doesn't mean your panic needs to be. It never hurts to start early.
ESPN is obsessed with sending Trey Hendrickson to the NFC North
Bengals get: 2026 second-round pick, 2027 fourth-round pick (can become a third-rounder with performance conditions)
Lions get: Hendrickson, 2026 fifth-round pick
"Lions general manager Brad Holmes has acknowledged the fan base wants a secondary edge rusher far more than he does, but I imagine a player of Hendrickson's caliber would change Holmes' calculus slightly. Hendrickson isn't the sort of run defender the Lions might prioritize, yet a pass-rush duo of Aidan Hutchinson and Hendrickson might be the scariest in the NFL. The Lions are still legitimate Super Bowl contenders and should behave as such with aggressive veteran trades. They have plenty of cap space to extend Hendrickson, which he would demand of an acquiring team."
I don't even have the words to accurately describe how much of a nightmare Trey Hendrickson and Aidan Hutchinson would be together. Hope Ozzy Trapilo is good! Doesn't Hendrickson want to be a Dolphin, or a Ram? Or literally anyone that doesn't play in the NFC North? Hasn't he had enough of those brutal midwestern winters for one career? Someone should tell him that there are places with NFL teams where the sun shines for more than six weeks a year.
The Lions don't need a pass-rusher, just like Trey Hendrickson doesn't need to go to Detroit, just like I don't need to freak out about any of this. But if I have to hypothetically engage in the first two, may as well make it 3-for-3.