The Indianapolis Colts are gearing up for a potential make-or-break season in 2025, as failure is likely to push the franchise into another roster rebuild.
While quarterback remains their largest question mark, the Colts are also attempting to improve their pass rush after seeing regression in terms of quarterback pressures and finishing in the bottom third of the NFL with 36 team sacks during the 2024 season.
Naturally, the Colts’ pass-rushing needs have led to widespread speculation that they could pursue Cincinnati Bengals superstar Trey Hendrickson, who is in the midst of a contract dispute with his team and has a standing trade request ahead of training camp. He has generated 17.5 sacks in each of the past two seasons, leading the league in 2024.
To help them get Hendrickson, Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski has proposed a three-team blockbuster trade that would bring Hendrickson to Indianapolis and ship off one of their other veteran defensive starters in Pro Bowl defensive tackle DeForest Buckner.
The Colts would acquire Hendrickson, while the Atlanta Falcons would send tight end Kyle Pitts to the Bengals in exchange for securing Buckner’s veteran services in 2025.
“Trey Hendrickson can pair with last year’s first-round pick, Laiatu Latu, while this year’s second-round selection, JT Tuimoloau, can be the team’s long-term rotational option,” Sobleski wrote. “DeForest Buckner remains an outstanding interior defender, but he’s been somewhat banged up the last couple of seasons and his interior pass-rush production dipped last year.
“Besides, Anarumo’s defense was built around its defensive ends during his time with the Bengals. Plus, Buckner off the books will give the Colts some financial flexibility to sign Hendrickson to a lucrative deal.”
Trey Hendrickson Would Add Potent Edge for Colts
Without question, the Colts would be making an all-in move if they traded Buckner to acquire Hendrickson — a four-time Pro Bowl edge rusher — to supercharge their line.
According to Pro Football Focus, Hendrickson finished with the fifth-highest pass-rush grade (90.2) among all pass rushers during the 2024 season, recording an NFL-high 83 pressures and a fourth-most 16 quarterback hits to accompany his league-most sacks. At 30 years old, he has also largely avoided any physical slowdown, missing just three games over the past four seasons — none since 2022 — with the Bengals defense.
The biggest hang-up for a potential Hendrickson trade, however, is his desired contract. He is signed to a one-year, $21 million contract for the 2025 season that would equate to just $16 million for whichever team acquires him in a trade, but his entire situation with the Bengals is centered around him wanting to make top edge-rusher money.
Seven NFL pass rushers make at least $28 million annually on their current deals, while four of them make at least $30 million in per-year value, with Myles Garrett’s four-year, $160 million contract marking the top of the market heading into the 2025 season.
Right now, the Colts would struggle to accommodate Hendrickson’s expected price tag with roughly $20.1 million available in cap space. But according to Over the Cap, they could free up $23 million if they traded away Buckner, which would give them enough wiggle room to acquire Hendrickson and pay him in the $30 million-per-year range.
Would Trading DeForest Buckner Do More Harm Than Good?
Sobleski’s hypothetical trade proposal has some merit, at least in the rationale that the Colts would need to clear a major amount of cap space to make adding Hendrickson a realistic possibility. Would the Colts defense be better off without Buckner, though?
Buckner missed a career-high five games with injuries for the Colts in 2024 and had the third-fewest sacks (6.5) of his nine-season career, but the suggestion that Buckner is on the decline is flawed. He still produced a strong season for the Colts’ defensive interior, logging 36 pressures and the 10th-most defensive stops (20) among defensive tackles.
Buckner is also a captain and leader of the Colts defense. Even if Hendrickson would improve their edge-rushing capabilities, the damage that losing Buckner — or, rather, that casting him aside — would do could be catastrophic for their defensive front.
The reality is the Colts do not have strong depth behind Buckner and fellow veteran starter Grover Stewart. Adetomiwa Adebawore and Neville Gallimore should make for quality rotational options, but it would be difficult to justify a pivot to one of them as the opening-day starter in place of Buckner unless it became absolutely necessary.
For now, the Colts seem much more likely to keep Buckner where he is and put their faith in their current edge rushers for the 2025 season. Kwity Paye and veteran Samson Ebukam — who missed 2024 with an injury — will also return to provide support to the group alongside Latu and the second-round rookie Tuimoloau.
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