Trey Hendrickson isn't going to the 49ers, but he could still end up haunting them within the NFC West somehow.
For those hoping the San Francisco 49ers somehow pull off a post-2025 NFL Draft blockbuster of a trade to land four-time Pro Bowl defensive end Trey Hendrickson in a deal with the Cincinnati Bengals, stop.
Like, full stop.
The Niners aren't going to dish out trade assets (and the massive chunk of change that'd accompany it) for a 30-year-old pass-rusher who wants a new deal, especially not after using their first pick in April's draft on defensive end Mykel Williams.
That said, and in light of Hendrickson all but declaring (again) he's destined to leave Cincy sooner than later, San Francisco has a reasonable fear of one of its NFC West rivals trying to package together something to pull in a defender who recorded 17.5 sacks in each of the last two seasons.
Lists of potential Hendrickson suitors should include plenty of teams in need of defensive line help. One from CBS Sports, in particular, has the Arizona Cardinals listed as a best fit
From CBS Sports' Cody Benjamin:
"Few teams have poured more resources into the front seven this offseason, with Arizona spending big to reunite Josh Sweat with coach Jonathan Gannon, then using a first-round pick on interior man Walter Nolen. Rumor has it the Cards were also interested in edge rusher Mykel Williams in Round 1; they're just all in on beefing up Gannon's rotation. And they've still got more than $30 million in 2025 salary cap space."
An up-and-coming red birds squad is certainly a threat to the 49ers, who must already figure out ways to contend against a rebuild Los Angeles Rams D-line.
There's another argument suggesting the Seattle Seahawks could be a good fit, too, which could also point to the Niners having to deal with a Hendrickson headache at least twice a year.
June 1 is a key date to watch here, as Cincinnati would benefit from trading the star pass-rusher with the maximum amount of salary-cap release.
From San Francisco's perspective, since it wouldn't be able to engineer a trade for Hendrickson anyway, the next best outcome would be him getting traded somewhere else aside from to the NFC West and, preferably, not to one of the teams the 49ers face in 2025.
Or 2026, for that matter.
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