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The Chicago Bears made some good draft picks and have done many things to improve their roster for the upcoming season. And head coach Ben Johnson is pumped to prove critics wrong. But the Bears need more ferocity at the edge rusher position, and here is their perfect Trey Hendrickson trade proposal to the Bengals.
Looking at Mike Clay’s individual projections for the 2025 season, the Bears come up lacking in the sack department. Montez Sweat is projected to lead with six, followed by Dayo Odeyingbo with five.
That’s not enough for a playoff contender. But Hendrickson would solve those issues. So, what would the Bears need to give up to get the Bengals’ weapon?
Bears trade first-round pick for edge Trey Hendrickson
There has been talk of the Bears sending a second-round pick to the Bengals for Hendrickson. However, this is a guy who led the NFL in sacks with 17.5 last season. And he did it playing for a very weak defense overall.
Yes, he will be 31 in December. He may only have a couple more prime years left. But the deal is a “now” trade that would push the Bears into the serious playoff conversation.
The Bengals don’t want to part ways with Hendrickson. So they’re going to hold out for a first-round pick. But here’s how the Bears can make it more palatable.
They could offer their 2026 first-round pick, which figures to be a mid-round selection or later. They could also offer a fifth-round pick to the Bengals in 2027. This way, the Bears don’t miss on two picks in 2026. They figure to be prime contenders over the next two seasons with Hendrickson rushing the passer. And this would allow them to still chase plenty of talent in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Will Trey Hendrickson stay with the Bengals?
One NFL insider thinks he won’t be traded anywhere, according to Up & Adams via cincyjungle.com.
“I do think something gets done (with the Bengals),” James Palmer said. “I think he ends up staying. (And) I think that’s the most likely type of thing that ends up happening. You don’t make the deals for Ja’Marr (Chase) and Tee Higgins. And you have the deal in place for Joe (Burrow). And you push for all of those contracts to be done to not be on a Super Bowl pursuit. You can’t win a Super Bowl without a star pass rusher.
“I just think it’s hard when you mentioned him getting moved when everyone’s already spent their money in free agency. They already went through the draft and filled some holes there as well. The amount of money that you probably have to have, because you’re not going to trade for (Hendrickson) and not sign him. It’s gonna be a difficult process… Deals like this don’t happen trade-wise at this point in the NFL calendar very often.”
Those are some valid points for Palmer. But the last one doesn’t hold any water. Just a few days ago, the Dallas Cowboys traded for wide receiver George Pickens. It’s not the exact same level as trading for Hendrickson, but it’s very close. Especially when Pickens’ age (24) is factored into the equation.
So, Palmer misses the boat in thinking a major deal like this won’t happen. It just depends on how hungry the Bears, or a team like the Commanders, are for the 2025 season. Hendrickson is a win-now guy. And that’s a big carrot for any NFL team to chase.
Joe Burrow says Bengals need Trey Hendrickson
Still, Joe Burrow said Hendrickson is very important to the Bengals' hopes of chasing down another Super Bowl appearance, according to the Bengals' YouTube page via yahoo.com.
“Yeah, we’ll see what happens with that,” Burrow said. “You guys all know how I feel about Trey. He’s a great player. I love Trey as a guy. He goes out and plays well every single Sunday. He’s very productive. He’s a guy that deserves to get paid and get paid what he wants and what the market is. So, like I said, we’ll see what happens with that. But, I love Trey and hope he’s with us.”
And the Bengals executive vice president, Katie Blackburn, said the team is working hard to get the issue settled with Hendrickson, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer via nfl.com.
“As you're trying (to put) all these pieces together, you have certain limitations eventually,” Blackburn said. “So he seemed to feel strongly about it, and thought the strength of interest out there was going to be at a certain level. And so, we said that it would be OK to at least explore. And so we don't do that all the time. But in this case, we felt like it was the right thing to do, case-by-case basis every time. And he's still a Bengal, so we'll see. It's just something that we'll keep working through.”
Bengals think they've budged far enough
Blackburn added that she believes the Bengals have already made a worthy offer to Hendrickson.
“I think he should be happy at certain rates that maybe he doesn't think he'd be happy at,” Blackburn said. “I think some of it is on him to be happy at some point, and if he's not, you know, that's what holds it up sometimes. So, you know, it takes him to say yes to something. And also, we have all the respect in the world for him. He's been a great player. We're happy to have him. And so maybe we'll find a way to get something to work. We're just gonna see where it goes.
“I'd be lying if I said I knew exactly what's going to happen. So, we'll just have to see how it all plays out.”
