The Detroit Lions are in their greatest moment in franchise history. Detroit is one of the most historically downtrodden teams in the NFL. However, they have taken on new life under head coach Dan Campbell and GM Brad Holmes. Now, they are one of the best teams in the NFC and legitimate Super Bowl contenders.
Detroit had one of their best seasons in franchise history in 2024. The Lions won 15 games, logged their second consecutive NFC North title, and secured the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. All of these are franchise firsts for Detroit.
Now the Lions must reload their roster so they can make another deep playoff run during the 2025 season.
Defensive injuries were Detroit’s biggest issue in 2024. In fact, they could assemble a whole defensive unit built from players who headed to injured reserve last season.
Losing Aidan Hutchinson for the season was the biggest blow of them all. Taking Hutch out of the lineup revealed how much the Lions depend on a star pass rusher.
Naturally, many Lions fans want to add another elite pass rusher to pair with Hutchinson for the future. There is one such player, Cincinnati’s Trey Hendrickson, who has already been given permission to seek a trade.
But could the Lions actually acquire him?
Below we will explore ESPN’s trade proposal that would send Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson to the Lions.
Bill Barnwell’s suggests Lions give up first-round pick to acquire Trey Hendrickson
Before we dive into the analysis, here are the terms of Bill Barnwell’s trade proposal.
Lions receive:
- DE Trey Hendrickson
- 2025 second-round pick (49th overall)
Bengals receive:
- 2025 first-round pick (28th overall)
- 2025 fourth-round pick (130th overall)
It should go without saying that there is one hidden cost to this trade.
In addition to the above terms, the Lions would be on the hook to sign Hendrickson to a massive contract extension. After all, the only reason why Hendrickson is on the trade block in the first place is because of his salary demands.
According to Spotrac, Hendrickson could command roughly $31.5 million per season on the open market. The Lions may end up having to pay north of this to get a deal done. In fact, Barnwell suggests Hendrickson may be worth $35 million per season.
Even with that cost factored in, this could be an incredible move by Detroit.
Lions GM Brad Holmes has done an excellent job of building the team through the draft. That is what makes it so scary thinking about giving up significant draft capital to acquire a player who demands a big contract.
However, Barnwell explains that Detroit is in position to make this move. They have enough players on rookie contracts to offset Hendrickson’s contract demands.
“General manager Brad Holmes has generally done excellent work in the draft, but making an all-in move for Hendrickson is a reward for years of building things up the right way,” Barnwell noted. “If the Lions want to shift their defensive philosophy after losing coordinator Aaron Glenn to the Jets, Hendrickson would give them the ability to rush four more often without needing to rely on blitzes.”
The Lions also only lose out on one draft pick in this trade. They will still have two second-round picks to work with, as well as their late-round selections.
Meanwhile, the Bengals would gain another first-round pick to help rebuild their defense.
“Bengals fans won’t want to see Hendrickson leave, but he is reportedly willing to sit out games in 2025 without a new deal, and they won’t want to see a repeat of the Carson Palmer situation,” Barnwell wrote. “This would value Hendrickson as a second-round pick, albeit one of the very last selections (61st pick). De facto general manager Duke Tobin would have two first-round picks to add defensive help, with Cincinnati jumping ahead of the Commanders and Eagles for edge-rushing options.”
The 2025 draft class is full to the brim with talented edge rushers. Bengals fans may not like the idea of giving up Hendrickson after back-to-back 17.5-sack seasons. That said, he could be easily be replaced in the aggregate. Adding multiple talented players may even be the smart move for an ailing Cincinnati defense.
Ultimately, I cannot help but give this trade an A for the Lions. Elite pass rushers are incredibly hard to come by in the NFL. Hendrickson may be on the older side, but he could give the Lions at least three seasons of elite play next to Aidan Hutchinson.
In my opinion, that is well worth the cost of a late first-round pick.
The post Grading ESPN’s Lions-Bengals Trey Hendrickson trade proposal appeared first on ClutchPoints.
