The Las Vegas Raiders have been quite busy this offseason. They have several new faces in town, such as head coach Pete Carroll, quarterback Geno Smith, and rookie running back Ashton Jeanty. However, with Week 1 quickly approaching, they have continually been linked to disgruntled Cincinnati Bengals defensive lineman Trey Hendrickson.
All offseason long, Hendrickson has been looking for a new deal from the Bengals, but with the two sides at an impasse, the team has reportedly begun entertaining trade offers for the reigning sack champion. Considering the amount of cap space the Raiders have, they are viewed as a potential landing spot for Hendrickson, but one team insider doused those rumors in cold water.
Why Raiders Are Unlikely to Trade for Trey Hendrickson
The allure of trading for Hendrickson isn’t too hard to see. A four-time Pro Bowler who is fresh off his first All-Pro campaign, Hendrickson is one of the best sack artists in the league currently. In four seasons since joining the Bengals, Hendrickson has racked up 57 sacks, and if Las Vegas paired him up with Maxx Crosby, that would be the most imposing one-two punch in the league.
Of course, trading for Hendrickson wouldn’t be cheap. Not only is Cincinnati looking for a massive haul in return for him, but he still needs a new contract. If Hendrickson does end up getting traded, whichever team acquires him would have to hand him the deal that the Bengals have refused to give him to this point.
Las Vegas has around $35 million in cap space available this season, so they could afford to hand Hendrickson the sort of deal he is looking for. However, when considering the fact the team will need a new quarterback in the near future, and that they just handed Crosby a three-year, $106.5 million deal earlier this offseason, Raiders insider Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal doesn’t believe Hendrickson will wind up in Las Vegas.
“Doing so would take them out of the future franchise QB pool, and they’d be spending $65 million/year on their pass rushers. For those reasons…….no,” Bonsignore said when asked about the possibility of a trade for Hendrickson.
Should the Raiders Trade for Trey Hendrickson?
GettyCincinnati Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson.
Considering how the Raiders only won four games last season, they are in the market for all the talent they can get. They have the resources to make a move for Hendrickson, and while it certainly wouldn’t elevate them to Super Bowl contender status, it could help them emerge as a dark-horse wild card team in the AFC.
The problem is that Las Vegas knows it’s going to take a while to reemerge as a true championship contender. If Hendrickson isn’t the guy who puts them over the top, at this point, there’s no sense in making a deal. It is fun for fans to fantasize about a massive blockbuster trade going down, but Bonsignore is probably right in explaining why this deal is very unlikely to happen before Week 1 rolls around.
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