If there's one trade that the Detroit Lions could make that would make a ton of sense for them in terms of getting a premier player and saving money, it's a trade for Bengals edge Trey Hendrickson.
Recently the NFL's sack leader went to the Bengals and asked for a trade. This is a request the Bengals don't normally acquiesce to. The Bengals have notoriously been one of the most hard headed franchises in the NFL. They don't like to trade players or pay players. They just do everything the hardest way possible.
That's why it was strange when the Bengals did acquiesce to this and allowed Hendrickson to seek a trade. Well, after a report from Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, we now know why the Bengals allowed this to happen. It's because Hendrickson's camp told the Bengals that they would bring a first-round pick back for him. Now we're at this point.
Teams are interested, and maybe a couple of years ago Hendrickson could have brought a first-round pick back in exchange. Now he's 30 years old and is looking for a decent sized contract extension. The Bengals could get a second-round pick from just about anybody, but a first-round pick is just probably not happening.
The problem there is that the Bengals are hard headed like we said. Most teams would cave at some point and take the best offer they could get. The Bengals would rather force Hendrickson to play one more year in Cincinnati than take anything less than what they want. So this one seems pretty much dead at this point.
It seems so dead that it wouldn't at all be shocked if Hendrickson actually does stay with the Bengals in 2025. Sorry Lions fans, if you're holding out hope that this one could happen. you might want to stop doing that.
Anything is possible and maybe the Lions would consider trading their low first-round pick. But for Detroit it seems like it would have to be one or the other. They'd probably pay the second and the contract. Hell, they'd maybe throw in a third-rounder too but it's hard to see Brad Holmes give up the first and the contract.
