Now we’re talking.
What will it take for the Cincinnati Bengals to part ways with Trey Hendrickson?
Given the fact that there haven’t exactly been a lot of star players the Bengals were willing to trade in their prime, it’s hard to truly gauge what it’ll take to get a deal done.
One CBS writer thinks a second or third-round pick could get it done, but that seems painfully small for a guy who nearly just won NFL Defensive Player of the Year. At that point, you might as well keep him, hope he plays out his final year, and then wait for him to sign a massive deal in free agency in 2026 that could net a third-round compensatory pick in the 2027 NFL Draft.
More than likely, it will take either a high second-round pick or even a first-round selection to get a deal done.
That’s what ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler believes is the case.
“People I’ve spoken to believe Cincinnati wants either a first-round pick or a strong Day 2 package to ship Hendrickson, who will command well above $30 million per year on a new deal,” wrote Fowler.
This. This right here is the absolute minimum the Bengals should be looking for.
Think about it. If a team is willing to trade for Hendrickson and then sign him to a three or four-year deal that pays him $30-35 million annually, they CLEARLY value him as an elite NFL player.
You don’t trade elite players for third-round picks.
