The Dallas Cowboys are ready to make some moves during the 2026 offseason. Dallas needs to upgrade the roster if they want to get back to the playoffs for the first time since the 2023 season. One NFL analyst believes the Cowboys could make one huge acquisition during free agency.
ESPN released a free agency primer on Wednesday, previewing the top players available and making a few predictions. Analyst Mike Tannenbaum made a bold prediction, suggesting the Cowboys should sign Trey Hendrickson to replace Micah Parsons.
“He would help to buttress their pass rush, which fell over the cliff after the Micah Parsons trade,” Tannenbaum wrote. “Hendrickson was injured for much of last season, but when healthy, he is still one of the best pass rushers in the league.”
Adding Hendrickson would certainly qualify as a splashy signing for the Cowboys.
Hendrickson had a disappointing 2025 season, but had back-to-back 17.5-sack seasons over the previous two years. He is still one of the best edge rushers in the NFL even at 31 years old.
There were concerns that Hendrickson could be franchise tagged by the Bengals. However, Cincinnati declined to tag Hendrickson by Tuesday's deadline. He will officially become an unrestricted free agent at the start of the new league year.
However, the Cowboys would be wise to consider a few aspects of a potential Hendrickson signing before getting too invested.
First, there's the fact that Dallas is converting to a 3-4 defensive front under new defensive coordinator Christian Parker. Henrickson has only played 4-3 defensive schemes in the NFL during his time in New Orleans and Cincinnati.
That doesn't mean a transition to a 3-4 outside linebacker is impossible for Hendrickson. But it could make the Cowboys less attractive than other teams in his eyes.
Second, there's the dollars and cents of it all.
Spotrac lists Hendrickson with a market value of $25.4 million per season on a new contract. That could be difficult for Dallas to pull off.
The Cowboys are finally salary cap compliant after restructuring contracts for Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Tyler Smith on Wednesday. But they only have $9.05 million in cap space after those moves.
Realistically, Hendrickson may be outside of Dallas' budget barring another spree of contract tweaks.
