Cardinals Urged to Trade for Disgruntled Bengals Star

Yet another day has passed without the Cincinnati Bengals handing a long-term extension to star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson.

We've talked about him on more than a few occasions here, but the national media has also consistently linked the All-Pro sack artist to the Cardinals.

Most recently, CBS Sports' Cole Benjamin pitched the top-five teams who should call and make a trade offer for Hendrickson. Of his top choices, the Cardinals were number five.

Cardinals Urged to Acquire Hendrickson

Benjamin had this as his reasoning:

"Few teams have poured more resources into the front seven this offseason, with Arizona spending big to reunite Josh Sweat with coach Jonathan Gannon, then using a first-round pick on interior man Walter Nolen. Rumor has it the Cards were also interested in edge rusher Mykel Williams in Round 1; they're just all in on beefing up Gannon's rotation. And they've still got more than $30 million in 2025 salary cap space."

There's certainly little doubt that many, if any, teams made more investments both financially and with draft capital to address their front seven than Arizona. It was highly advised to do such for a team that has playoff aspirations in 2025.

The Cardinals were able to manufacture an effective pass rush last season with little help, but that's not something that can be done on an annual basis and Arizona needed to get players whose specialty is sacking the quarterback. And hence, the signings and draft picks that were made.

However, they lack a proven option to play opposite of the aforementioned Sweat, who played his best seasons under Gannon when he was the defensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles.

It's not as though they don't have some guys to try out. I like Baron Browning to rebound and a healthy BJ Ojulari will have hype behind him, but neither of those two or anyone else on this roster match Hendrickson -- not even close.

It makes targeting him, or at the very least making some phone calls, more than worthwhile.

Why Cardinals Would Be Perfect

Remember, a big reason for this standoff between the two parties is over a new contract, and the Cardinals can give Hendrickson what he wants. You also have no reason to worry about him playing at a high-level considering he's been one of the league's best for the last five seasons.

Hendrickson becomes the team's best rusher, even over the recently signed Sweat, the moment the ink dries on the trade and eventual contract. He also drastically makes the defense from top-to-bottom better.

The players around him in the front seven will have much better opportunities to sack the quarterback, and a heightened pass rush will force quarterbacks into errant throws and a potential uptick in interceptions and turnovers entirely.

It's a multi-sided upgrade for the defense and Gannon and defensive coordinator Nick Rallis will continue to get elite production from him. 41 sacks from a team whose top producer had just five sacks a year ago will certainly have no issue getting at least double that production with very little effort.

The question for now is whether Arizona feels the need to make the move. Again, there have been so many additions already made to that side of the ball and especially to that unit. It may feel like putting a hat on a hat by adding Hendrickson, even if he is an elite player.

You have to make investments across the board after all. Football is the ultimate team sport and one position/player is not the fix all you see in other sports.

If you ask this guy, I say go in on pursuing him, but don't beat yourself up over it if it doesn't get done. Hendrickson makes the defense better, but you've made plenty of investments if you would rather place your focus elsewhere.

I absolutely believe he makes your team better, certainly the defense, but moving draft assets and assigning salary cap money may be a tough sell.

It will also be interesting to see how a potential bidding war could work out. Benjamin highlighted ahead of the Cardinals are the Indianapolis Colts, Green Bay Packers, Washington Commanders and Detroit Lions (in order) as teams who should also be in on the Hendrickson sweepstakes.

Perhaps Hendrickson could be out-priced by much needier teams like those mentioned, but it's not the least bit surprising that he continues to be linked to the Cardinals. I doubt that will be stopping anytime soon, either.