Should Seahawks Go All-In to Acquire Disgruntled Bengals Superstar?
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Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson celebrates a sack during a regular season game against the Green Bay Packers. Credit: Trey Hendrickson/Instagram [/caption]
As anticipated, it took some time for the Seattle Seahawks to find their groove on defense during coach Mike Macdonald’s first season at the helm, as they surrendered north of 24 points per game in the first eight contests.
But following the addition of linebacker Ernest Jones prior to the NFL trade deadline, Macdonald’s unit improved dramatically in the second half, starting with major improvements defending the run. Led by the tackle machine in the middle, the Seahawks allowed under 100 rushing yards per game from Week 10 on, ranking eighth in the league during that span. Humming on all cylinders for most of the second half, they yielded 18.3 points per game in the last nine contests, the fifth-best scoring defense in the NFL.
Coming off that strong finish, with Jones back in the fold after signing a three-year extension along with Leonard Williams, Devon Witherspoon, and the vast majority of Seattle’s key contributors returning from a year ago, expectations couldn’t be higher for Macdonald’s crew heading into the 2025 season. Finishing outside of the top 10 in scoring defense, or even outside of the top five, would be viewed as a monumental disappointment.
But while the Seahawks already have the pieces in place to field a dominant defense, there’s no such thing as having too much talent, especially when it comes to rushing the passer. By cutting fat off the salary cap through trades and releasing high-priced veterans this offseason, general manager John Schneider has positioned the team to be a player in any potential blockbuster trade with more than $31 million in cap space available.
Keeping that in mind, as the Bengals and star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson continue to be far apart in contract negotiations and the bridge between them goes from smoldering into a full-fledged fire, Schneider should absolutely have Duke Tobin, Cincinnati’s director of player personnel, on speed dial, ready to pounce if the opportunity presents itself to land an elite pass rusher to further bolster the front line.
Skeptics who don’t see pursuing a trade as a smart move for Seattle likely would point to Hendrickson’s age, as the veteran turned 30 years old in December. Others may argue that his track record of being a below average run defender who leaves more tackles on the field than desired - he has posted a 23 percent missed tackle rate or worse in three of the past four seasons - would make him a poor fit for Macdonald’s defense.
Such assertions aren’t baseless. Many players start to decline once they hit their 30th birthday and per Pro Football Focus, Hendrickson has only finished with better than a 65.0 run grade twice in eight NFL seasons with a 19 percent career missed tackle rate. With him seeking top-five edge rusher money on a new contract, his age and documented issues against the run present risks for any team that looks into trading for him.
However, few coaches do a better job of maximizing on the strengths of their players than Macdonald, who knows all too well what kind of damage Hendrickson can inflict on opponents after watching the 6-4, 270-pound menace torture the Ravens during his time as a defensive coordinator in Baltimore. Being a player who has demonstrated the ability to occasionally slide inside on obvious passing downs along with moving around the formation in a two-point stance and being a nuisance on stunts, he has more than enough flexibility to be unleashed effectively in the Seahawks’ scheme.
Beyond his overlooked positional flexibility, it can be argued that no pass rusher has been more consistent turning up the heat on opposing quarterbacks over the past five seasons than Hendrickson, who developed from a little-used rotational rusher early in his career into a one-man wrecking crew. Starting with a breakout 2020 season in New Orleans where he produced 13.5 sacks, he has averaged a remarkable 14 sacks per season in the previous half decade, including leading the NFL with 17.5 of them last year, making his $21 million per year contract look like a major bargain.
Hendrickson hasn’t just been a sack artist, either. During that span from 2020 to 2025, per PFF charting, he amassed a whopping 373 quarterback pressures and 70 quarterback hits, or an average of 75 pressures and 14 quarterback hits per season. For context, the Seahawks haven’t had a defender hit 70 pressures in a season since Michael Bennett accomplished the feat way back in 2017 and only Uchenna Nwosu has produced 14 or more quarterback hits in a season for the franchise dating back to 2019.
On top of his raw pass rushing numbers that few players have rivaled, Hendrickson has been one of the NFL’s best at punching the ball out of the quarterback’s hand, forcing 12 fumbles over the past four seasons. When he hasn’t been able to quite get home, he has excelled at getting his hands up into passing lanes to produce deflections, including four swatted passes last year alone.
Looking at the Seahawks current depth chart, Macdonald already has a fun mix of edge defenders at his disposal, though the group doesn’t come without questions. Nwosu has been dogged by injuries over the past two years, missing a total of 22 regular season games, and he may not be ready for the start of training camp after undergoing offseason knee surgery. Boye Mafe and Derick Hall have both improved by leaps and bounds since coming into the league as second round picks, but neither has taken the step towards being a star to this point, while veteran free agent signing Demarcus Lawrence missed most of the 2024 season with a Lisfranc fracture in his foot and turned 33 years old in April.
If the core nucleus of Nwosu, Lawrence, Mafe, and Hall stays healthy, Seattle’s edge group could be a strength as constructed in 2025. At the same time, none of those players have been in the same zip code as Hendrickson in the pass rushing department, and there’s no question adding the former Florida Atlantic star to the equation would turn a good/great stable of outside linebackers into one of the best in the NFC, if not the NFL.
Additionally, beyond 2025, Nwosu will be in the final year of his deal next year with a massive cap number and Mafe will be set to hit the free agent market in March, so the Seahawks have potential long-term concerns at the position. Bringing Hendrickson on board with a multi-year extension would help remedy that oncoming problem and then some.
Of course, when it comes to orchestrating blockbuster trades for established stars, money talks and so does compensation expected in return. To this point, the Bengals haven’t been willing to consider trading Hendrickson, and if they do decide to start fielding offers, their asking price could be incredibly steep. It wouldn’t be a surprise at all if Tobin and owner Mike Brown demand a first round pick and more in exchange for one of the most prolific pass rushers in the NFL, and on top of that, any acquiring team would then have to turn around and hand over an extension worth $28-plus million per year.
Such an arrangement would be a deal breaker for most teams before any trade discussions actually took place. And after being burned by the infamous Jamal Adams trade, Schneider may be hesitant to give up a first round pick and additional compensation for an aging defender who wants a massive pay day.
But Schneider has never been one to shy away from making big moves as a means for competing for championships and with the Seahawks window to contend back open and plenty of cap space to work with, Hendrickson could be the splash needed to get the team over the hump and maximize that window after missing the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. Pass rushers come at a premium and even if there would be risk making such a bold move, acquiring a game-changing talent who can transform an already great defense into an elite one that can win games in January would be well worth the price.
