According to NFL Insider Jordan Schultz, the Indianapolis Colts are among the suitors that have expressed interest in trading for Cincinnati Bengals All-Pro pass rusher Trey Hendrickson, who’s still seeking a multi-year mega-contra extension from his current club:
The 30-year-old returning NFL First-Team All-Pro, and the league’s reigning sack king with 17.5 total sacks in 2024, did report to Bengals training camp, but did not participate in practices due to an ongoing contract dispute with Cincinnati—as neither side has been able to reach a resolution yet.
Hendrickson is entering the last year of his current contract with the Bengals, with a cap hit of $18.67M in 2025.
This isn’t exactly ground-breaking news, as the Colts have been linked to Hendrickson for at least a few months now since contract negotiations between him and the Bengals have gotten contentious—and he reportedly requested a trade earlier this offseason.
There’s obviously great familiarity between him and new Colts veteran defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, who coached Hendrickson for the past four seasons in Cincinnati defensively.
We do not know if this is reignited new interest from the Colts or just recalling their prior interest in potentially trading for the former 4x NFL Pro Bowl defensive end with 77.0 career total sacks—with 35.0 of those total sacks coming over the past two seasons with Cincinnati. He’s been one of the best pass rushers in all of football.
The Colts have a projected $17.7 million of available team salary cap space, so even if they met the Bengals reportedly steep asking price for Hendrickson, they’d have to get creative to free up some cap wiggle room, potentially even sending one of their own higher paid defensive ends back to Cincinnati in the process.
