Trey Hendrickson still wants a trade, but he's the type of player the Packers won't spend on, and that's perfectly fine

But historically, the Ron Wolf tree and Brian Gutekunst in particular have preferred younger players, pieces that can reach their primes while playing in Green Bay. That's why they drafted Barryn Sorrell and prefer to sign free agents entering their second deals—like they did with Aaron Banks and Nate Hobbs.

With Hendrickson, you might get great production for a year or two. But you are also spending high draft capital and giving a big contract for a player who is 30 years old and passing his best days. At last, the team would be overpaying for past production.

"I don't particularly want to see someone on the backside of their career,” Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst recently said. “I don't think that's something I'd be particularly interested in."

And that's the Packers' modus operandi. Za'Darius Smith and Preston Smith were 26 when they signed with Green Bay. Last year, they signed 26-year-old Josh Jacobs and 24-year-old Xavier McKinney with impactful results.

It's not that the Packers can't sign an older player. It's just that a big investment would be out of their character, and it doesn't make that much sense.

In free agency, for a moderate deal, getting veterans is more realistic. The Packers signed Julius Peppers to a three-year, $30 million deal back in 2014. That was a relatively big contract 11 years ago, but there was no draft compensation involved. Would Ted Thompson trade for Peppers? Well, that's unlikely.

Right now, Trey Hendrickson is slated to play for $16 million in the last year of his deal with the Bengals. But Hendrickson wants out because he wants an extension—and he's running out of time in his career to receive another massive deal.

Spotrac projects that he will get a two-year, $59.3 million extension ($29.7 million yearly average). That would be more than Rashan Gary and the highest-paid non-quarterback in Packers history.

Now, put on top of that the trade compensation required. The Bengals have zero motivation to move on from Hendrickson unless it's for real draft capital. Otherwise, they can just let his contract run out to receive a compensatory pick later—after all, the Bengals are never very active in free agency. Even if the draft has passed and the capital spent would involve only 2026/2027 picks, that's not what Green Bay tends to do—it might make it even harder, because the Packers would trade away a pick they don't know where to spot.

"When you trade a high pick for a veteran player, you're trading a young, really good contract for a player who's proven, but probably expensive, so you're giving up a pick and salary cap space. You gotta weigh that," Gutekunst said after the season. "If it's the right player, if you can feel he can be a dynamic player that can change your football team, you gotta consider that, because there's not many of those guys out there. But you also have to understand what you're giving up."

It's something the Packers would probably pass up fairly quickly, especially given the dire cap situation projected for next year. Right now, the Packers are already above the projected 2026 cap in effective space, with -$7.138 million, and getting an expensive veteran. Parting with a high pick and giving almost $30 million a year for a player who would be 32 when the deal is done is not a smart way to maximize resources.