It’s not as if the 2017 third-round pick from Florida Atlantic isn’t familiar with the teams in the NFC South. Star defender Trey Hendrickson spent four seasons with the New Orleans Saints before the Cincinnati Bengals came calling, and with a check book as well. In 2021 (via Spotrac), the club inked the promising pass-rusher to a four-year, $60 million deal.
It was somewhat of a gamble. Hendrickson was coming off a campaign in which he came up with 13.5 sacks. While that was impressive, he managed only a combined 6.5 sacks his first three seasons. Was he a one-hit wonder, or a player on the rise?
Fortunately for Cincinnati, it proved to be the latter. In four seasons in the Queen City, all resulting in Pro Bowl invitations, the 6’4”, 270-pound terror has racked up 57.0 sacks and 11 forced fumbles in 65 regular-season contests.There were also a combined 3.5 sacks and a forced fumble during the team’s four-game postseason run in 2021. In July of 2023, he actually signed a one-year, $21 million extension with the franchise, which is why he is currently under contract with the Bengals through 2025.
Hendrickson has amassed 17.5 sacks each of the past two seasons, the second resulting in his first All-Pro nod. In ’24, he finished second in the voting behind the Broncos’ Patrick Surtain II for NFL Defensive Player of the Year. On Thursday (via Ben Baby of ESPN), he was given permission to seek a trade.
Enter the Carolina Panthers and the most “generous” defense in the league this past season. Along with giving up the most total yards in the NFL, the club managed only 32 sacks—tied for the third-fewest in the league. Keep in mind that that the previous season that the team was dead last in the league with just 27 quarterback traps.
Here’s some quick and disturbing math. Hendrickson has played and started 34 games since 2023 and rolled up a combined 35 sacks. Obviously, the Panthers have also appeared in 34 contests over that span and have racked up 59 QB traps.
Can Panthers’ general manager Dan Morgan talk the eight-year pro into making a return to the NFC South?
