Things remain at an impasse with the Cincinnati Bengals and star edge rusher Trey Hendrickson. At 30 years old, Hendrickson, who tallied 17.5 sacks in each of the last two seasons, would be a tempting trade target for a team looking to win right now.
What if that team is the Seattle Seahawks?
The Seahawks’ new-look offense is ‘a symphony of destruction’
And by that, I don’t mean, “What if Hendrickson is a perfect fit for Seattle?” — though he would undoubtedly make their defense better — but rather, “Why can’t the Seahawks be a team that’s trying to win this year?”
NFL Network insider Daniel Jeremiah, who was asked Monday on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk about a possible Seahawks trade for Hendrickson, thinks they can be.
“I can get on board with that,” Jeremiah said when asked about Hendrickson trade at a lowered price point. “It’s a window thing. When you look at these trades, it’s about understanding what window you’re in, and I think this is a gettable division for them right now.”
3.5 sacks tonight. 17.5 sacks on the season.
Trey Hendrickson was a BEAST for the @Bengals 💪 pic.twitter.com/Ul2vloeM85
— NFL (@NFL) January 5, 2025
What’s your window?
Jeremiah says it’s all about understanding what window you’re in, so let’s find out where the Seahawks are.
They’re not a Super Bowl favorite. They’re not one of the teams with a top franchise quarterback penned in every year. They’re not even favored to win their own division — but let’s start there, because that’s where Seattle has the most wiggle room.
Why can’t the Seahawks win the NFC West? And why shouldn’t they be aggressively pushing to do it? After all, don’t you have to prop your own window open?
There are gray areas to failure… right? Because while they didn’t make the playoffs last season, the Seahawks are not a bad team. They took a massive step forward defensively and will return the same group, but now with the addition of DeMarcus Lawrence, an older veteran to be sure but one who has shined in camp and who was still impactful for Dallas in limited play last season.
While they moved on from Geno Smith and DK Metcalf, the Seahawks aren’t destined to be a pitiful offense; hiring an offensive coordinator with NFL experience (Klint Kubiak) is a pretty significant improvement from last year. Efforts to take a step forward with one of the league’s worst rushing offenses last season have paid off so far in preseason games, even with their admittedly limited insight.
And while a team shouldn’t rely on a rookie to lift them, adding Grey Zabel to the interior of the offensive line is one of their best moves of the offseason.
The Los Angeles Rams are betting favorites in the division but with some of their own important question marks, particularly concerning quarterback Matthew Stafford’s back injury (he returned to practice for the first time Monday and is still day-to-day).
When are you all in?
I don’t typically love a cross-sport comparison, but I’ll make one here: Mariners fans were, very fairly, pushing for Seattle’s front office to be aggressive at the trade deadline last month. That was with the knowledge that the team didn’t necessarily look like a World Series contender.
They could be more complete; a pitching staff that had taken a step back from 2024 was at least healthy and present, and there were special pieces in place offensively with Cal Raleigh’s historic season and Julio Rodríguez heating up in the second half.
Just as important, the AL West was up for grabs. There’s no better evidence of that than this horrible road trip where the Mariners, having dropped every series, haven’t really lost ground to a Houston Astros team that’s dropped four of their last five.
Other important context here? The Mariners are the only club to never have a World Series appearance and have made the playoffs just once since 2001. That was also the last time they won their division. Nothing wrong with shooting for the stars, but what Mariners fan in their right mind is going to look down their nose at a playoff appearance? Of course the M’s should seize the moment — we’ve all learned how few a team can have!
Seattle fans have seen the Seahawks in a Super Bowl. Three times, actually. They’ve seen them win one, and since 2010 they’ve seen the most successful stretch of Seahawks football ever. With that comes a bit more patience and a very familiar feeling of what a dominant team looks and feels like.
Frankly, it didn’t feel like that last year, and it hasn’t for a while. There are probably more than a few fans willing to wait — through the rebuilding efforts of a young team and a second-year head coach — until that feeling comes back.
It’s a fair approach, especially in a league where the single greatest indicator of a Super Bowl winner is a top franchise quarterback. Don’t have that guy? Don’t hold your breath. But as a thought experiment, I’d turn back to that feeling of hunger, desperation and possibility for the Mariners.
The Seahawks are in what might be the most open division in football. Acquiring Trey Hendrickson might not be your all-in move to win sooner than expected, but what if acquiring someone else is?
More Seattle Seahawks coverage
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