Throughout the 2025 NFL offseason there has been a disconnect between the Detroit Lions' front office and their fanbase.
The fans have wanted the franchise to pursue big names at defensive end to give the team's pass rush an upgrade.
The team has mostly been stingy throughout the offseason and that has left them with Marcus Davenport in a starting spot.
Despite that, it seems an idea for a trade to bring in a pass rush upgrade has been thrown around again.
ESPN recently had some of their writers put together offers for the top names currently believed to be on the NFL's trade block from teams who may be interested in them. They then decided which team had the best bid.
Ben Solak's offer from the Lions ended up being deemed the best offer for Cincinnati Bengals edge Trey Hendrickson.
The winning deal would see the Lions send their second-round pick in 2026 to the Bengals along with a fourth rounder in 2027 that can become a third rounder in exchange for Hendrickson and a 2026 fifth rounder.
A move for Hendrickson is something that has seemingly been ruled out multiple times this offseason because the Lions don't want to spend the money on another edge rusher when they still need to pay Aidan Hutchinson.
However, the team's dynamic has shifted quite a bit recently.
With Frank Ragnow heading for retirement, the Lions probably aren't going to be able to rely on their offensive line to steamroll opponents like they have in the past,
That could leave them needing to lean on their defense more in 2025.
Hendrickson would make that idea much more appealing.
The Lions were already among the league's leaders in available cap space before Ragnow's retirement and now they have even more.
Maybe that will change how they feel about paying for an edge rusher this offseason.
The Lions are going to need to do something to offset the fact that they just lost an All-Pro and I can't think of many better things to do than trading for Hendrickson.
