
The impasse between Pro Bowl defensive end Trey Hendrickson and the Cincinnati Bengals took a turn on Sunday, with the franchise letting it be known that it is listening to trade offers for the star pass rusher.
Hendrickson piled up exactly 17.5 sacks in both 2023 and 2024. He’s entering the final year of his current contract, which is set to pay him $16 million in 2025.
The Bengals told Hendrickson back in March that he had permission to seek a trade, according to NFL.com, but yesterday brought the first news of trade talks actually taking place.
In March, Cincinnati agreed to massive new contracts for both its top receivers, signing Ja’Marr Chase to a four-year, $161 million deal and Tee Higgins to a four-year, $115 million deal.
According to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, Paul Dehner Jr. and Amos Morale III, Cincinnati’s asking price for Hendrickson includes “a young defensive player and a 2026 first-round pick.”
Trey Hendrickson Next Team Odds At DK
The odds below come from DraftKings (as of August 18).
Fine print, from DK: “Determined by which team the specific player takes their first snap in the stated regular season for. If the player does not take a snap for any NFL team in the stated regular season, bets are void.”
Note: While DraftKings offers odds for all 32 teams in this market, we’re listing the 15 that currently have 20-to-1 or shorter odds.
In addition to each team’s betting odds, the implied probability of those odds is also listed.
Betting odds (DK) | Implied Probability (%) | |
Bengals | -450 | 81.8 |
Panthers | +500 | 16.7 |
Lions | +800 | 11.1 |
Colts | +1000 | 9.09 |
Packers | +1000 | 9.09 |
Chargers | +1400 | 6.67 |
Cardinals | +1400 | 6.67 |
Commanders | +1700 | 5.56 |
49ers | +1700 | 5.56 |
Eagles | +1800 | 5.26 |
Titans | +2000 | 4.76 |
Patriots | +2000 | 4.76 |
Raiders | +2000 | 4.76 |
Rams | +2000 | 4.76 |
Browns | +2000 | 4.76 |
Best Bet On Trey Hendrickson’s Next Team
First of all, it’s worth noting that based on the odds, the Bengals are seen as more likely to end up keeping Hendrickson than the Cowboys were to keep Micah Parsons and the Commanders were to keep Terry McLaurin.
When the “Parsons Next Team” and “McLaurin Next Team” markets opened at DK, neither Dallas (-300) nor Washington (-350) were as short as the Bengals’ opening price of -450.
At first glance, staying away feels like the best approach to this market.
Panthers Boast Shortest Odds After Bengals
It’s interesting, however, to see Carolina listed as the team with the shortest odds after the Bengals for a couple of reasons. The Panthers have not made the playoffs since 2017 and are not projected to contend for a playoff spot this year.
That’s relevant because it’s hard to imagine a team trading significant capital for Hendrickson in late August or September unless it views him as the final piece to put that club over the top this year.
DET, IND, GB, LAC Among Possible Trey Henderson Destinations
With that in mind, the Lions, Packers and Chargers strike me as the teams to keep an eye on.
Let’s start with Detroit. Would the Lions really commit to paying two of the best pass rushers in the league?
Aidan Hutchinson is still on his rookie deal, and Detroit will need to pay a top-of-the-market rate when the time comes to hammer out the former Michigan star’s second contract. The Lions do, however, have over $40 million in cap space for 2025 available, and there’s certainly a need on their roster for a quality pass rusher opposite Hutchinson.
The Colts are intriguing because their defensive coordinator, Lou Anarumo, was hired this offseason from Cincinnati, and they badly need a player like Hendrickson after recording just 36 sacks last season. Indy has less than $20 million in cap space for 2025, though, per Over The Cap.
The Packers were solid defensively in 2024. Their top pass rusher the last two years, linebacker Rashan Gary, had 7.5 sacks in ’24 and 9 sacks in ’23, though, so Hendrickson would obviously bring a massive boost at a position of need.
But we’re talking about a Green Bay franchise that is hardly known for splash moves like what it would take to land Hendrickson.
The Chargers are a much bigger longshot at DK than the Panthers, Lions, Colts and Packers, but they’re intriguing at 14-to-1.
Jim Harbaugh’s team finished top-10 in the NFL in sacks in 2024 with 46. But after losing veterans Morgan Fox, Poona Ford and Joey Bosa this offseason, Hendrickson could be a great fit for a front seven led by veterans Khalil Mack and Bud Dupree and third-year OLB Tuli Tuipulotu.
If there’s a longshot worth placing a small bet on, the Chargers — who have over $31 million in cap space, according to Over The Cap — might be as good an option as any.
I nevertheless recommend staying away or backing the Bengals to get this situation figured out.
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