The Seattle Seahawks already have a strong rotation of pass rushers in Leonard Williams, DeMarcus Lawrence, Uchenna Nwosu, Boye Mafe and Derick Hall.
But could they add a superstar to push the group over the top?
An early Seahawks 53-man roster projection for 2025
During Monday’s edition of Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk, Mike Salk floated the idea of the Seahawks pursuing a trade for Cincinnati Bengals star defensive end Trey Hendrickson.
Hendrickson, who finished second in the AP Defensive Player of the Year voting last season, received permission to seek a trade back in March and recently said he won’t play for the Bengals this fall unless he receives a new contract.
Hendrickson, 30, is coming off back-to-back 17.5-sack seasons. His 35 sacks over the past two years are 4.5 more than any other player in the NFL. He also had 13.5 with the New Orleans Saints in 2020 and 14 with the Bengals in 2021, giving him 13-plus sacks in four of the past five years.
“I’ve got a lot of questions about how he would fit here in Seattle, what you’d have to pay, what you’d have to give up, what his age means,” Salk said. “But at the end of the day, if you were to bring Trey Hendrickson in and find a way to trade for him before the season started and pay him, wouldn’t that be making your defense elite? And isn’t that still one of the major goals here?”
“I’ve gotta say yes,” he added. “I would do it. I want to be elite on defense. … I would absolutely trade a second-round pick for Trey Hendrickson.”
TREY HENDRICKSON. Strip Sack. Bengals ball.#RuleTheJungle #SuperWildCard
📺: #LVvsCIN on NBC
📱: NFL app pic.twitter.com/Wbkm40SFDg
— NFL (@NFL) January 15, 2022
Former NFL quarterback Brock Huard acknowledged that it’d be tempting to swing a deal for the four-time Pro Bowler. But ultimately, he pointed to Hendrickson’s age and cost – since any trade for him would surely be contingent on then signing him to a massive long-term deal.
Huard also asked whether the Seahawks are at a point in their roster reshaping to go all-in on a seismic move like this.
“Are you at an age and stage in this cycle (to make this move)?” Huard said. “… And you kind of have that guy, to me, in Leonard Williams. Leonard Williams is your Trey Hendrickson. He’s your 30-something that is playing at an incredibly high level. But you know in this league, once that age ticker turns 30, things start to typically slow down a little bit.
“And then the question really becomes, do you want to pay him? Do you want to pay him more than you do a Boye Mafe, if he pops this year and he gets you double-digit sacks? … Put my shoulders against the wall and ask me today, no, I’m not doing this one. As tantalizing as it may be, I think you’ve addressed this position.”
Listen to the full Brock and Salk conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune in to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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