Indianapolis, IN — The Indianapolis Colts haven’t made a big-time trade for a proven player since bringing in quarterback Matt Ryan ahead of the 2022-23 season. The subsequent season devolved into even
more dysfunction than the previous year had left it, resulting in a clean slate entirely — well, one with an asterisk.
After four straight seasons of band-aids thrown into the fray, this constant turnover proved not to be a worthwhile endeavor. Instead, the late great Jim Irsay gave the Ballard regime a second chance. From that point forward, Chris Ballard and Co. would be entrusted to use the then-upcoming 4th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft to right the ship with a new quarterback for years to come, as well as a fresh face leading the charge. We all know how the Anthony Richardson experiment has gone, and that this is the Daniel Jones-led Colts, so no need to rehash old wounds.
Ballard’s shortcomings in Indianapolis have resulted in newfound managerial tactics, never-before-seen antics that had people questioning if the real Chris Ballard had been kidnapped. Not only did Ballard fork over regime-record deals to three separate big fish free agents (QB Daniel Jones, CB Charvarius Ward, S Camryn Bynum) during the offseason, but he’s shown a willingness to forego his otherwise overvalued loyalty and cut players, while also doing the same as it pertains to adding veterans with tread still left on their tires (G Mark Glowinski latter half of 2024; Xavien Howard in 2025) to a needy position room — something he wouldn’t have considered in recent years.
Furthermore, cap-wise, the Colts have also shown a recent willingness to prorate and restructure contracts as a move to lessen the current cap hit. For example, the aforementioned big fish signings of defensive backs Charvarius Ward and Camryn Bynum are back-ended to provide breathing room in the current year. Both players’ cap hits increase year-over-year, going from $7M and $9M cap hits in 2025 to sporting $15M and $20M cap hits in 2026, increasing so on and so forth. This muddies the waters of the future, but also gives financial flexibility in the present, which was otherwise not an option in past years of the Ballard era. Additionally, a recent offseason contract restructure with longtime tackle Braden Smith adds to the proof that Ballard’s ways have changed — for the better.
This newly established operation, coupled with the recent success, leads me directly into what I think could truly unlock this Colts defense: trading for an established, superstar pass rusher in Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson.
All summer long, Trey Hendrickson’s contract disputes with the Cincinnati Bengals remained at the forefront of NFL news cycles. As a byproduct of his former defensive coordinator, Lou Anarumo, leaving for a new gig in Indianapolis, the Colts were regularly linked as a potential suitor. Before the regular season got here, I deemed this potential pairing to be a lazy one based on the obvious ties in place. I viewed it as a baseless question, especially considering a trade for Hendrickson reportedly required a long-term extension as well, and the Colts had just forked over a majority of their cap room in free agency. That is, however, until the 2025 Colts turned in a September for the ages.
Hendrickson has since resolved his contract dispute with the Cincinnati Bengals, resulting in a $14M raise for the 2025-26 season. The agreement in question expires following this season; therefore, Hendrickson will be allowed to test free agency and cash in big wherever he pleases. Not only does it give him the opportunity to play with no outside factors for this season, but teams trading for Hendrickson are now able to exclude the long-term extension talks entirely. Pair that with the ongoing dysfunction within the Bengals’ organization that has resulted in franchise QB Joe Burrow going down for multiple months, as well as the fresh loss to the Carson Wentz-led Minnesota Vikings to the tune of 48 points allowed.
Enter the Indianapolis Colts.
Hendrickson’s $25M cap charge for the 2025-26 season makes the Colts’ remaining ~$5M in space a tricky maneuver, but the looming extension talks that no longer exist should be enough to make something happen. As an admitted amateur capologist, the financial nuances to making this work are foreign to me; however, the aforementioned recent willingness of this front office to go ‘all-in’ (i.e., prorated and/or restructured contracts, uncharacteristic paydays, etc.) for the 2025 season should not stop solely because the regular season began. If the Irsay daughters and this regime are as committed to winning as they say they are, the phone should at least be picked up.
Just on the surface, to show that the $20M hurdle in cap space isn’t as scary as it appears, the quick inclusion of defensive end Kwity Paye in a trade package would wildly avoid the obstacle at hand. Paye’s ~$13.4M charge for this season would cut the hypothetical deficit all the way down to a mere $6.5M cap hit. That figure alone could be reworked in a contract restructure elsewhere, and while interest from the Bengals’ side may not be there, this just goes to show how much wiggle room cap teams actually have.
Those aforementioned obvious ties between Trey Hendrickson and Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo are at the forefront of why this trade makes sense. Back in late February, at Radio Row during Super Bowl week, Hendrickson was on-site and joined Pat McAfee on his show to talk about the then-contract disputes, amongst other things. During that conversation, McAfee took the opportunity to make the connection himself and to ask Hendrickson for his opinion on now-Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo.
“I was blessed to be productive under [Lou Anarumo’s] scheme. I think he does a good job at making it an open room, meaning you can talk to him about the scheme. He’s very organic,” Hendrickson raved about Anarumo’s coaching style. “He’s a leader of elite men. He got guys at 4-8 to rally behind a cause and continue to win football games. I love him. He’s a great friend to me. He’s been a tremendous mentor.”
The financial aspects aside, reuniting Hendrickson with the very coach who helped keep him atop the NFL’s sack totals seems like the easy move to make. Hendrickson is the reigning NFL sack leader with 17.5 sacks in 2024, as well as the NFL’s total leader over the past two seasons.
The ties between Hendrickson and this Colts defense run deeper than just Lou Anarumo, though. Hendrickson played college ball at Florida Atlantic University, and his head coach at the time was none other than current Colts defensive line coach Charlie Partridge.
“I’ve been blessed to have a lot of great coaches in my life,” Hendrickson said before name-dropping Partridge during a later segment on the same show with McAfee. “[He’s] a fantastic coach and a good dude.”
When it comes to whether or not Trey Hendrickson’s 31-year-old self is hitting a decline after a peak showing, he’s not. Through three games thus far, the All-Pro first-teamer has looked like his recent self. Hendrickson has already logged two sacks this season, with his 7th-best pressure rate in the NFL (17.4%) confirming that he indeed still has it.
Any team would immediately improve upon adding his services, but the idea of Trey Hendrickson to Indianapolis makes more sense than ever before. According to Next Gen Stats, the Colts’ pass rush had the lowest pressure rate (20.6%) across the NFL by a good margin through two weeks. By slotting Laiatu Latu back into the lineup after he missed Week 2’s game versus Denver, as well as going against a depleted, already weak Titans OL in Week 3, the total pressure rate shot up to 28.3% (27th leaguewide).
To be fair, opposing quarterbacks have made an effort to get the ball out quickly against Anarumo’s defense, averaging the 6th-quickest time to throw (2.61 seconds) against, but Indy’s defensive line is also T-31st in get-off speed. Indy’s pass rush by committee amongst its defensive end room has done enough thus far, but a dependable, top-end rusher who can consistently be a problem on obvious passing downs could get them over the hump defensively, and preparing for Latu to take the next step cannot become a waiting game with this much momentum bottled up.
With or without top edge rusher Laiatu Latu, this Colts pass rush, and more specifically its defensive end room, is lacking the necessary juice to keep Indy’s defense a formidable unit. Lou Anarumo’s creative blitz packages and pressure simulations are keeping the front half of the passing attack afloat; however, a certain dependable power would reinforce an already talented group into a feared matchup, and Trey Hendrickson’s services would provide just that.
Anarumo brought one of his longtime special teamers over with him to Indianapolis in linebacker Joe Bachie, and now he’s starting alongside Zaire Franklin. Colts’ longtime slot cornerback Kenny Moore II injured his calf in Week 3 versus the Titans, and although the severity has yet to be determined, Indianapolis has already signed veteran CB Mike Hilton, aka Anarumo’s version of Moore II in Cincinnati for the previous four seasons. That makes two reunions so far, one from a different level of the defense. What’s the harm in adding one more to complete the Lou Anarumo tree by adding Trey Hendrickson?
