If order for a trade involving star defensive end Trey Hendrickson to occur, three things need to happen. A team must be interested in Hendrickson, be willing to pay Cincinnati's steep asking price in a deal and be willing to give Hendrickson the contract extension that he's seeking.
Given all of those stipulations, it's not surprising that some teams have found alternative options when it comes to a pass-rusher, and some appear to have dropped out of the Hendrickson sweepstakes entirely, according to Ari Meirov of the 33rd Team.
Bills, Commanders, Falcons are all out on Trey Hendrickson after preliminary interest
Per Meirov, several teams have already pivoted away from pursuing Hendrickson.
"The one team that maybe they thought maybe they could get to make this happen was the Buffalo Bills," Meirov noted, via Sports Illustrated. "I don't think the Bills and Bengals would have actually been able to work out a trade, because they're such competitors here in the AFC, but the Bills ended up pivoting to signing Joey Bosa, so they're out of this.
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"The Commanders were interested, but they just traded for Laremy Tunsil. They're kind of limited on picks. Now, the Atlanta Falcons have been mentioned as well, but that's kind of cooled down. The teams that would be interested in Trey Hendrickson is kind of dwindling."
There are probably a couple of factors at play here. Cincinnati's high asking price has, which reportedly starts with a first-round pick, has scared away some potential suitors. Perhaps that was the plan and they were hoping that the steep sticker price would scare teams away with the hope of keeping Hendrickson for themselves.
Plus, there's the age factor. Hendrickson is 30 years old, and despite his extremely productive play over the past couple of seasons, teams are often hesitant to hand out multi-year extensions to players once they hit the big 3-0. Hendrickson's personal asking price might be a bit higher than some teams are willing to meet give his advanced age.
For what it's worth, veteran defensive tackle B.J. Hill is on record saying that Hendrickson would prefer to remain in Cincinnati, and Hendrickson has basically said the same himself.
Just because Hendrickson was granted permission to seek a trade doesn't mean that one will necessarily come to fruition. So, perhaps there's still a world where Hendrickson remains in Cincinnati and is even able to agree on a reasonable extension with the franchise.