The Chicago Bears are hoping to compete in one of the toughest divisions in the NFL, so general manager Ryan Poles should stop at nothing to improve his roster.
That includes in the pass-rush, where teams can never have enough weapons. The Bears added Dayo Odeyingobo in free agency to play opposite Montez Sweat, but coming off a three-sack season, it isn’t guaranteed he’ll be the answer.
In order to take their pass-rush to the next level, Pete Martuneac of Chicago Bears On SI wants to see the Bears acquire Cincinnati Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson.
“He may be on the wrong side of 30, but Hendrickson is coming off back-to-back seasons of 17 or more sacks. That kind of production can’t be ignored and would provide a mammoth shot in the arm for Chicago’s pass rush unit,” he wrote. “This could be a potentially difficult trade to pull off since Hendrickson is looking for a big payday and Chicago is light on salary cap space, but pairing Hendrickson with Montez Sweat would give Chicago its most fearsome defensive line since 2018.”
Hendrickson and the Bengals have been locked into a contract dispute all offseason long as he refuses to play on his $21 million deal — and by all accounts things are not going well.
Hendrickson, who is holding out, has called out the Bengals on multiple occasions for issues in talks, including a lack of communication. The two sides did recently go back to the negotiating table, but neither seems willing to budge.
“They’re talking again, but they’re not any further along. They’re talking, it doesn’t mean a whole lot right now,” Schefter said on Wednesday. “It will mean something if and when they can figure a way to get a deal done, which they have been unable to do. I think there is a disagreement over value and I think most important, there’s a disagreement on length here. Length of deal, I think that’s also an issue here. The Bengals would like a shorter deal, Hendrickson would like a longer deal. And they can’t even find common ground on the length of the deal right now.”
The Bengals reportedly offered Hendrickson a deal that pays him about $28 million annually, but clearly that wasn’t enough to make the four-time Pro Bowler bite. If nothing changes, Hendrickson could get dealt.
Adding Hendrickson opposite Sweat would be a game-changer for the Bears. The 2024 sacks leader is coming off a campaign in which he tallied 17.5, and he’s posted the most sacks in the league since 2023 with 35.
Acquiring Hendrickson would be an expensive proposition, though. Not only will Chicago likely have to give up a second-round pick in a trade, they’d also have to extend the reigning sacks leader to a deal that pays him $35 million or so per year.
The risk in that is Hendrickson will turn 31 in December, but he hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down yet, so there’s hope he can continue playing at a high level for at least the next few years.
The Bears are on the doorstep of being a good team in 2025. Trading for Hendrickson could help them finally kick the door down.
