The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in need of help this offseason on all three levels of their defense. Included among them are at edge rusher, where the team should be looking for a starter across from Yaya Diaby.
One big name has surfaced recently, and that’s Cincinnati Bengals edge Trey Hendrickson. The veteran edge pass rusher led the NFL with 17.5 sacks last season on the way to earning AP First-Team All-Pro honors.
However, Hendrickson is seeking a new contract and isn’t going to get it from Cincinnati, so he’s received permission from the team to seek a trade. The Buccaneers would be wise to pass on the talented defender.
Why? It goes no further than cost.
Hendrickson, who is from Orlando and played college football at Florida Atlantic, is set to make $15.8 million in base salary in the last year of his deal in 2025. The cost of an extension is about to skyrocket on the open market thanks to the latest mega-deal that Myles Garrett and the Cleveland Browns reached on Sunday. Garrett and the Browns reached an agreement on a contract extension that will pay him $40 million per year and includes $123.5 million in guaranteed money.
Hendrickson likely won’t reach what Garrett is getting on the market, but he won’t be terribly far off either in annual money. After all, Maxx Crosby and the Raiders reached a deal last week for 3 years at over $35 million per season. One has to think that’s the ballpark for Hendrickson as well.
CBS NFL insider Jonathan Jones projects a high third round pick as the cost to get Hendrickson, which isn’t daunting for a first team All-Pro by itself, but when you add in the cost of a draft pick and a near top of the market price tag together, that’s a lot, and it’s particularly a lot for a player who turned 30 in December.
The Bucs would be best served to focus on younger and cheaper as a solution to get some pass rushing juice this offseason. With players like Jalon Walker, James Pearce, Jr. Shemar Stewart, Nic Scourton, Mykel Williams, and Mike Green potentially in play when the Bucs are on the clock at pick 19 in the NFL Draft next month, that would be a far more ideal time to take a shot at finding that help off the edge.
