Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Time for Indianapolis Colts to SWING BIG, Trade for Cincinnati Bengals' Trey Hendrickson

Starting point is 00:00:00 If the Indianapolis Colts are serious about getting their act together, then there is a huge opportunity staring them straight in the face. They need to trade for Trey Hendrickson. Let's get to it. You are locked on Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Alright, thanks for tuning in and making us your first listen of the day.

Starting point is 00:00:31 This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts part of the locked on podcast network. Your team every day at today's show is brought to you by Fandual. Right now, new Fandual customers can get $150 in bonus bets. If your first $5 bet wins, what is up friends?

Starting point is 00:00:49 This is Jake Arthur of horseshoe huddle.com your resident credentialed media member for the site. And today I want to talk to you guys about Cincinnati Bengals past rusher Trey Hendrickson. I have a feeling a lot of you want to talk about him as well. This is a rare opportunity where a star player from another team in the NFL might actually have plenty of reason to want to come to Indianapolis.

Starting point is 00:01:15 It doesn't happen a ton, but in this instance, we're going to talk about why I think this is actually pretty realistic here. So let's come do some window dressing here. Trey Hendrickson, excellent pass rusher from the Cincinnati Bengals. That defense has really struggled over the last couple years, but he has been a constant. He led the NFL in sacks last year with 17 and a half. Over the last two years has led the entire NFL with 35 sacks.

Starting point is 00:01:43 And he was first team all pro this last year made his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl. And oh, yeah, he just happened to have a really strong relationship with new Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo. Anarumo, of course, was Hendrickson's defensive coordinator in Cincinnati throughout Hendrickson's tenure there. So. Financially, I think the Colts could make it work. That's kind of why Hendrickson wants out.

Starting point is 00:02:10 The Bengals have found themselves in a place where they have all of these star players who want new contracts all at once. Now, a lot of that is, you know, that's the bed they made. You know, the Bengals dragging their feet for so long kind of puts them in this situation. But you know, Hendrickson is due shoot. I think it's about like 18 or so million dollars with one year left on his deal. And you know, certainly the the premier pass rushers, the the pass rushers that are of his caliber are making well above the end of the 20s.

Starting point is 00:02:40 Some of them, you know, the way the league is moving, you know, these huge non quarterback deals are going to be in the 30s and sometimes 40s. So not exactly sure what Hendrickson's figure is, but it's certainly more than the 18 to 19 million that he is due this year. But yeah, so the Colts, you know, they have a need at defensive end, they could certainly welcome, really any team could welcome a player like Trey Hendrickson in, but the Colts could really use it. So Daiwa Dengbo as we've discussed is probably gone. He might sign for what he might sign with another team for what Trey Hendrickson is already making now. And I think the Colts probably don't want to pay that for a guy who's never really been a full time starter for them.

Starting point is 00:03:27 I do think the Colts would want to keep Dio, but probably not at that figure. And then the contract status for other guys is going to be up in the air in the next calendar year as well. So you've got Dio probably not coming back. Samson, have you come is going to be 30 years old coming off that Achilles has one year left on his deal. Could he pay one year left? Taekwondo Lewis one year left.

Starting point is 00:03:48 Well, I ought to lot to you drafted in the first round last year. And, you know, it's not fair to say that he's not going to be awesome, but he's not awesome yet. Like he could still be a top pass rusher, but he's not there yet. So it's not like you have something elite to hang your hat on right now. You need edge help. You need depth. You need talent. You need it all. And that's what Trey Hendrickson can provide. And I, he's not like the best run defender in the world. That's not what he's known for, but I think he's a lot steadier than like Dio, Dango is for example. So, uh, he's an upgrade over, over D and layout to lot to and run defense.

Starting point is 00:04:26 Quiddy pay is already one of the best run defending defensive ends in the NFL. So Hendrickson helps would help the Colts from really a multitude of areas. So, you know the money I think the Colts could do it. We'll talk about that a little bit in the next segment, but they have, you know, this the spot on the depth chart forum. But when it comes to player movement, especially free agency money talks, but also familiarity and relationships talk. So like we mentioned Lou Anna Rumo and and Trey Hendrickson are very close. If you've heard either of those guys talk about one or the other in the last few months,

Starting point is 00:05:07 they have nothing but glaring things to say about the other one. So Hendrickson, if he leaves Cincinnati, certainly would probably like to land somewhere with some familiarity like with Luan Arumo. But Colts defensive line coach Charlie Partridge also just happened to be Hendrickson's position coach, actually might have been coordinator, but he coached up Trey Hendrickson in college at Florida Atlantic. So Hendrickson has two coaches on the Colts with a lot of familiarity. And I haven't heard him talk about, you know, Partridge, but I know he's, you know, he's very close with Lou Anna Rumo

Starting point is 00:05:45 and holds him in high regard. So I think again, this is a very rare instance for a Colts team where a lot of us like to get excited about, you know, big name free agents or big name trade targets and say, oh, they should go get this guy and this guy and this guy. And it's just not always realistic. But this one is like the Colts are being service on a golden platter. There are teams with more salary cap space and they can offer more of this or that. But I think the Colts would be able to create enough cap space to maybe satisfy Hendrickson and again, they could they can make this feel like home for him with with what they've already got in the building, which is a key thing that not every other team can offer. So we already know there were some former Bengals players and they could throw Jermaine Pratt in there as well that would love to go follow Louie and Arumo now with the Colts because he is again held in such high regard to his players.

Starting point is 00:06:45 So I think this one's easy. It's going to be expensive. It's not always easy to pull off because we're going to talk about trade compensation and such here in a moment as well. But I'm not a big throw money at the biggest free agent or throw all this stuff at the biggest trade target. But I think this one is obvious. You have to do it. You have to at least try and make this one work. So obviously, I think you guys probably feel the same.

Starting point is 00:07:13 It's it's been a while since I feel like there's been a trade target out there that most people are on board with and say, yeah, absolutely. You got to pull this one off. So let us know in the comments what you think here in a moment. What might a trade package for Hendrickson even look like if you're the cult? So we will get to that in just a moment. When the game tips off the NBA action is just getting started and there is no better place to get in on all that action than Fandel

Starting point is 00:07:43 America's number one sportsbook. Well, Fandle, you could place live bets throughout the game. So even if you miss the opening tip off or you want to bet on a fourth quarter comeback, you could stay in on the action. And if you're looking for a bigger payout, you can combine all your live bets into a same game parlay. I personally love using Fandle's live betting feature because it keeps every moment of the game exciting, especially when there's a wall,

Starting point is 00:08:05 whether I'm backing my team for a late game rally or picking a player to hit a clutch three, I never feel like I've missed my chance. Plus, the app is super easy to use. And when you win, you get paid instantly. Right now, new Fandle customers can get one hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets if your first five dollar bet wins. Just visit Fandle dot com to join today. That's Fandle dot com for your shot at one hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets. Make every, just visit Fandual.com to join today. That's Fandual.com for your shot at $150 in bonus bets.

Starting point is 00:08:28 Make every moment more with Fandual, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. All right, so the Colts aren't always flush with resources to pull off big trades like this, but they have already taken one step. You know, they released Rayquan Davis on Thursday that freed up I think it was about six and a half million in cap space. We know if they were going to wipe the contracts of Davis, Braden Smith and Samson Ebby come off the block, that would have been about 31 million in space, giving them about the fifth most, fifth most cap space in the

Starting point is 00:09:06 entire league. So there are still moves they can make to make this work financially. Basically if you're trading for Hendrickson, good faith says it's kind of a sign and trade. They would trade for him and they would probably need to give him a new deal because it's the whole reason he wants out of Cincinnati to begin with is he's not compensated enough for the caliber player that he is. Yeah, right now he's playing out a one year 18.7 million dollar deal in 2025. I would have to think looking at him. I mean again, he's 30 years old, but he's led the league in sacks combined over the last two years.

Starting point is 00:09:44 You're probably looking at 25 to 30. I would say actually 30 is probably your starting point because, you know, DeForest Buckner is a guy that's making 25 million right now. So I would have to say 30 million per year is probably your floor with what you're looking at for him. I haven't seen exactly what he wants, but just my guess is that's what it would take. As far as trade compensation, we're seeing some guys get traded super cheap around here.

Starting point is 00:10:13 You know, Devo Samuel is someone who went super cheap. Christian Kirk, a lot of it is guys with one year left on their on their contracts with really high salary cap hits on that. So teams are willing to just offload those basically, especially if they know they're not going to resign that player and that the one year is just kind of good enough. So looking at this, like maybe a second round pick does it if you're just going straight up player for pick,

Starting point is 00:10:39 like maybe a second round pick does it. I don't think I would probably not do it for a first round pick since you're picking at 14. It's kind of a valuable pick. maybe a second round pick does it. I don't think I would probably not do it for a first round pick since you're picking at 14. It's kind of a valuable pick. And again, he's 30 years old, so trading for a 13th overall pick in 2020 for a player like DeForest Buckner, who is I think probably 26 or so at the time, that's a lot different than trading

Starting point is 00:11:03 the 14th pick for a guy who's already 30. So a second round pick is probably as rich I would get as far as the highest pick pick total, but I was looking at some some options here and Brent Sobleski from Bleacher Report put up a projection. He got kind of creative with this one, but I mean the Colts hardly when they pull off trades. It's not always such an easy six round pick for this player. Like sometimes there's stuff mixed in, especially if it's around draft time. So Brent said in this instance, the Bengals would get the 14th overall

Starting point is 00:11:38 pick and this year's second and then next year, 2026, the fourth round pick. So the Colts would then get Trey Hendrickson and linebacker Jermaine Pratt to Bengals defenders who have asked for trade this offseason and really like Lou Anarumo and then they would swap picks in the first round as well. So the Colts would also get the 17th overall pick and I think it's this year's third as well. So the two sides would switch picks in the first round 14 and 17 and the Colts would get Hendrickson Jermaine Pratt and a third round pick this year in exchange for obviously the 14th pick in the second round pick and next year's fourth. I think I would do that and I don't think it would be so bad for the Bengals either,

Starting point is 00:12:30 especially because you know, you're offloading a big contract really with both players considering but it's you guys who've asked for a trade. You're kind of getting rid of two. I don't want to call them problems or headaches, but like it's, they have a lot of big contracts to deal with right now, which are Marche and T Higgins. It's a stress off of their shoulders. I would say getting rid of both of those guys, especially if you know, you're not going to be able to resign them. So, uh, you do that. I think that's, I think that's pretty doable, but if you're going to involve some Colts players in this,

Starting point is 00:13:05 some guys who could be involved in this, I would look at the defensive side of the ball, honestly, because the Bengals defense is going to look like a disaster, especially if they do send Hendrickson out of there and Pratt like you're losing pretty much everyone who was important to that 2021 Super Bowl team that you haven't already lost, you know, Jesse Bates and guys like that. So Quidipay and Tyquan Lewis,

Starting point is 00:13:34 I think that works. You know, those are again, guys who just like Hendrickson have one year left. You don't leave the Bengals without a defensive end swap in this scenario. Quidipay is certainly a starter. Taekwon Lewis is a good rotational guy. Obviously, Trey Hendrickson outweighs Quidipay, but if, let's say the Bengals lose Joseph O'Si in free agency as well, I think they've got a couple kind of backup defensive ends

Starting point is 00:14:02 hitting free agency. Taekwon Lewis is probably an upgrade over Joseph O'Si. So you give the Bengals to you know, there's two quality defensive and options there. I'm not saying you package them both but Zaire Franklin if you're if you're involving Jermaine Pratt in this, I don't know that I would team Zaire Franklin and Jermaine Pratt just because they it's kind of the EJ

Starting point is 00:14:25 Speed thing where they are somewhat similar players with the same issues. So if you get Jermaine Pratt in that I would maybe consider sending Zaire Franklin and then you maybe don't have to have such a sweet pot of draft picks that you're sending off there. Juju Brents is one that's a big tall long corner that new defensive coordinator Al Golden would probably like. And obviously with the Colts, you got to think they're going to address cornerback through free agency and or the draft this year. So losing someone like Brent's who unfortunately has not been healthy for you for two years. Again, it's

Starting point is 00:15:02 unfortunate but it's not the end of the world. And again, it kind of takes the stress off your shoulders there. And then Rodney Thomas, again, if you're just looking at somewhat expectable defensive players, Thomas is probably not going to play much of a role for you outside of special teams this year anyways. So if you give Cincinnati safety, who's at least started games before that might be helpful. So again, me personally, as far as draft picks go, there's stuff you could do like. Pick swaps in certain rounds and this and that,

Starting point is 00:15:32 but if you're just going like straight up a pick for a player or something like a second round pick is probably the highest I would go. I don't think I would do a first, but even if it was like a second and a fifth or something like that, I just I don't know how hard of hardball the Bengals are going to play. I know they often don't let these guys seek trades. This is the very rare instance where they're actually allowing a guy to seek a trade. They've always been that way back to Carson Palmer.

Starting point is 00:15:59 Like the Bengals almost never let guys to take the opportunity to seek trades, but they're giving him the opportunity here. But again, a lot of really valuable guys are being traded for peanuts. It seems like so I would be interested to see what they'd be willing to take. And I really hope the Colts don't come in with some ridiculous lowball offer and aren't willing to like really come to the table with adequate trade compensation. Cause again, I think a lot of us think they should try and make this move as long as it doesn't involve a King's ransom.

Starting point is 00:16:35 You know, again, this is a 30 year old player. Like would, would he give the Colts an enormous boost? Absolutely. And I think they should do it, but I'm not giving up a ton of super you know super useful resources for it just because again how much longer is the guy gonna be at the peak of his game maybe a few more years I don't know if the Colts are close enough as a roster for that to be like part of a Super Bowl winning formula so I think you have to be kind of careful there still. So that's it guys.

Starting point is 00:17:06 I definitely Zach and I wanted to make sure and that we talked about Trey Hendrickson with you guys before the week was over because you never know what can happen over the weekend. I'll be at definitely let us know what you guys are thinking. Do you want Trey Hendrickson?

Starting point is 00:17:20 Do you not? If you do, what are you willing to give up for him? What Colts players would you involve in a trade package as well? So again, thanks for hanging with us guys. We are so pumped for next week. It is free agency week. We are going to be around the clock with you guys. What whenever something notable comes up, we will be there with you. I really hope you guys take that opportunity to get in on the Lockdown Colts insider program. This is the best time of the year to do it. You know, news and rumors

Starting point is 00:17:49 are flying. If you guys have questions for us, you just text us and we'll get right back with you about what we're thinking about all this stuff. How valid are these news and rumors? It's a great opportunity. So again, thanks for checking us out today, guys. For your next lesson, please go check out locked on NFL draft with Damien Parson and Keith Sanchez. Now that the season's over, get the latest draft rankings, rumors and news every day. Find locked on NFL draft on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you don't already, please follow at locked on Colts at Jake Arthur NFL

Starting point is 00:18:21 and at Zach Hicks to on Twitter. We're also on TikTok and Instagram as well. And also please subscribe on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts, of course, for free. We would love your ratings and reviews as well. And with that, we will see you guys next week for free agency week.

Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Time for Indianapolis Colts to SWING BIG, Trade for Cincinnati Bengals' Trey Hendrickson

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.