The Bears don't _need_ to make a trade. They'd probably be fine. Their defense has a high enough ceiling to be cautiously optimistic heading into the season, and it won't even matter if they're bad when Ben Johnson has them scoring 75 points per game. There's no dire need to act impulsively this late in the offseason.
### [RELATED: Bears minicamp is already proof Ben Johnson brought his full bag of tricks](https://beargoggleson.com/bears-minicamp-is-already-proof-ben-johnson-brought-his-full-bag-of-tricks)
But ... they could. And it'd be fun. Would it really be that bad if the Bears made an entertaining trade just to flex on people? Are we so preoccupied with OverTheCap and Spotrac that we can't appreciate a good ol' BLOCKBUSTER TRADE, just for fun? Did we learn nothing from Ryan Pace? Life is too short to worry about the financial ramifications of a trade five years down the road.
So with that rationale, there's really no reason not to trade for Cincinnati's Trey Hendrickson. It checks all the boxes: he's good, the Bears could use a good player, and it'd be fun. I have no idea what the cap situation would look like, because those websites make my head hurt and also that's not what this blog is about. This blog is about cool, fun trades. Let's bring back cool, fun trades.
Plus, he's no-showing Bengals' mandatory minicamp; he's basically begging to be a Bear at this point. This morning's Adam Schefter tweet more-or-less confirms that.
Trey Hendrickson's minicamp no-show is the perfect opportunity for Ryan Poles
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"Sources: NFL sack leader Trey Hendrickson, who has not received the new contract he has been looking for, is not attending the Bengals’ mandatory minicamp," he [reported on Tuesday morning.](https://x.com/AdamSchefter/status/1932418099141107889)
I don't think Hendrickson is actually going to end up leaving the Bengals, which is sad because that is neither fun nor cool. Most people who follow this stuff for a living seem to think both sides are just being stubborn until they absolutely have to, which feels like a very Bengals approach to rewarding one of their best players. The Bears would never\*.
(\*Rule #1: Never let the facts get in the way of some good riffin'.)
Do it, Ryan Poles. Do it and cement your legacy as the best Bears GM since the last one who made a bunch of silly, large trades with little-to-no concern or foresight. That's the way football is meant to be played.