Bengals can eliminate their Trey Hendrickson headache with one trade

It's time for the Bengals to get creative.

Whether smart or not, the Cincinnati Bengals entered the offseason with one main priority. That priority was to extend Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Trey Hendrickson in contracts that would keep them with the organization long-term. They got deals done with Chase and Higgins simultaneously, but Hendrickson remains without a long-term commitment. As things currently stand, he's set to hit free agency at the end of the 2025 campaign.

It's safe to say a talent like Hendrickson hitting free agency would be the worst-case scenario. Yes, that'd be even worse than trading him. The notoriously frugal Bengals can ill afford to let a talent like Hendrickson walk for free. The offensive-minded Bengals also can ill-afford to lose Hendrickson, even if they get a haul back in a trade, without replacing him appropriately on their defensive line.

Few, if any players, can match or even approach Hendrickson's production, but one player, Abdul Carter, could be worth trading up for. This is something the Bengals should strongly consider the longer Hendrickson goes without signing an extension.

Bengals should look into trading up for Abdul Carter

Let me preface this by saying a trade-up of this magnitude is extremely unlikely. The Bengals hold the No. 17 selection in the upcoming NFL Draft, and Carter is almost certainly going to be taken somewhere within the first five picks of the festivities. For them to trade up, it'd require a massive haul of picks, and might even involve Hendrickson himself.

As unlikely as it is for a deal like this to materialize, it isn't impossible, and it's something that the Bengals should consider.

Carter is not going to be Hendrickson, especially in Week 1 of the 2025 season. Hendrickson is one of the best edge rushers in the sport, and just led the league with 17.5 sacks this past season. With that being said, though, Carter has the upside to match or maybe even surpass Hendrickson's production, and do so at a fraction of the cost for the next half-decade. He probably isn't going No. 1 overall, but he might be the best non-quarterback prospect in this upcoming class.

In an ideal world, Hendrickson would be extended by now, but this isn't an ideal world we live in. Hendrickson is unsigned, and if he does sign an extension, it'd be for an absurd amount of money. It'd make building a team around the three-headed monster of Joe Burrow, Higgins, and Chase virtually impossible.

It'd cost a ton, and probably is not realistic, but the Bengals trading for Carter might be their clearest path toward building a roster well-rounded enough to compete for a Super Bowl while also freeing the Bengals of more contract drama.