After winning a Super Bowl last season, the Philadelphia Eagles have seen a mass exodus of key players, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
Philly was hit particularly hard upfront, where the team lost edge rusher Josh Sweat, its 2024 sacks leader, and defensive lineman Milton Williams to free agency.
In addition to those two, the Eagles traded away edge rusher Bryce Huff to the San Francisco 49ers, although that isn’t much of a loss at all after Huff was a major disappointment.
Philadelphia has added guys like Azeez Ojulari and Josh Uche, but Uche has just five sacks the last two seasons and Ojulari has always struggled to stay healthy.
If the Eagles want to improve their chances of repeating in 2025, they need to beef up the edge rusher group with a more proven option.
That’s why Marc Ross of NFL.com predicts Philadelphia will trade for Cincinnati Bengals superstar edge rusher, Trey Hendrickson.
“The Eagles dominated the Chiefs in the Super Bowl with a relentless pass rush, but Philadelphia has questions on that front heading into the 2025 campaign, given the loss of Josh Sweat, Nolan Smith’s injury and the inherent need for young guys like Moro Ojomo (2023 seventh-round pick) and Jalyx Hunt (2024 third-rounder) to level up. General manager Howie Roseman hit big on the trade for wide receiver A.J. Brown in 2022. Trading for Hendrickson, who’s in a contract standoff with the Bengals, could provide a similar effect for the defense. Plus, the Eagles just cleared more cap space by dealing Huff. This would be a case of the rich getting richer — and a move I wouldn’t put past Philly.”
Hendrickson has been trying to get the Bengals to pony up the dough since at least last year, and things have come to a head in 2025, with the four-time Pro Bowler and reigning sacks leader calling out his own team over extension talks.
Hendrickson has even said he will not play for the Bengals on his current contract, which has one year and $21 million on it.
“And when there’s a lack of communication in any relationship, if it’s business or personal relationship, lack of communication leads to animosity, and that leaves my narrative only to me with no clear direction,” Hendrickson said.
The Bengals did reportedly offer Hendrickson a contract that pays him around $28 million annually, but it’s clear he didn’t bite. Unless the Bengals up their offer significantly, the two sides could be headed for a divorce via trade.
The Eagles sport $32.4 million in cap space at the moment, which is enough to fit Hendrickson’s current contract in. Philly also has 13 picks in next year’s draft, so draft capital won’t be a problem.
Philly isn’t slated to have a ton of cap space until 2027, but the team has more than enough room to make a Hendrickson extension work if general manager Howie Roseman gets creative, something we know he’s great at.
Seeing as how Hendrickson has led the NFL in sacks since 2023, he’s going to get a near-top-of-the-market deal, at least. We’d suspect $35 million annually would be enough to get it done.
While that’s a bit risky with Hendrickson turning 31 in December, the Eagles should be going all out to maximize their Super Bowl window, so it makes complete sense to make a play for the Bengals star.
