We're still early enough in the 2025 NFL season where the possibilities for the Cincinnati Bengals and most of the other 31 teams seem endless.
Maybe Joe Flacco finds some magic and keeps the Bengals in the playoff hunt in the wide-open AFC. Or, perhaps Flacco proves to be washed and Cincinnati crashes out so hard to where Joe Burrow doesn't bother coming back until 2026.
In the midst of all that uncertainty, one dramatic Bengals subplot that isn't going away: Trey Hendrickson's dubious future with the team, and the resulting trade rumors.
Dallas Cowboys reportedly a 'team to watch' in Trey Hendrickson trade sweepstakes
The trade deadline looms on November 4, and the chatter around Hendrickson is loud with Cincinnati on streak of three straight losses.
Matt Lombardo's recent Between The Hashmarks Substack features some interesting anecdotes on Hendrickson's link to the Dallas Cowboys. With a hat tip to Heavy.com for the find, an AFC executive and an AFC scout both indicated that America's Team could very well trade for Hendrickson before the NFL's ultimatum.
Whereas the exec singled out the Cowboys as "a team to watch" to acquire Hendrickson, the scout included the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs as other potential fits.
I can't imagine Burrow sitting back with his severe turf toe injury and watching Duke Tobin ship off his defense's only source of a consistent pass rush to one of those Super Bowl contenders.
Hendrickson and Burrow have teamed to beat the Bills in Buffalo in the playoffs. They made the run to Super Bowl LVI together by knocking off the Chiefs in Kansas City. It would be a full-blown disaster to ship Hendrickson off to the Bills or Chiefs.
That's why the Cowboys make a lot of sense. I thought all along that Hendrickson would be traded in the offseason if anyone between him and ex-Dallas star Micah Parsons. Instead, Parsons got sent to Green Bay, where the Bengals are playing this very Sunday. How about that for a full circle sequence?
With the money that Jerry Jones didn't want to pay for Parsons, he could use it to give Hendrickson a two-year contract extension on top of what he's making in 2025. It'd be quite a savings. Hendrickson is for sure older than Parsons. People sleep on the fact that he didn't start full-time until his fourth NFL season, though, so he doesn't have the typical wear and tear of a defensive end over 30.
I would hate to see Hendrickson leave Cincinnati. Nevertheless, if the price is right by early November and the Bengals continue their mighty struggles, they'd be better off getting some kind of Day 2 pick for Hendrickson, as opposed to watching him walk in free agency, or franchise tagging him against his will.