According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Indianapolis Colts were recently in ‘pole position’ for Cincinnati Bengals former All-Pro free agent edge Trey Hendrickson before the Baltimore Ravens shockingly ‘backed out’ of trading for Las Vegas Raiders fellow All-Pro edge Maxx Crosby on Tuesday evening—and signed Hendrickson instead on Wednesday morning:
While far from a guarantee that Hendrickson, who was expected to make a decision on Wednesday regardless of Baltimore’s later entry, would’ve actually signed with Indy among other heavily interested suitors, per ESPN’s Stephen Holder, the Colts made a recent “competitive bid” closer to around $25 million per year.
However, they were ultimately beat out by the Ravens surprisingly pivoting from Crosby late Tuesday night, who signed Hendrickson to a 4-year, $112 million deal worth a projected $28 million per year:
While Hendrickson is 2 years older than Crosby, and coming off his own injury (hip/pelvis ailments to be exact), the Ravens now get to keep their next two first round picks, instead of trading them to the Raiders for Crosby.
However, it was the Colts who are now caught in those surprising shockwaves of the Ravens reneging on their deal with Las Vegas. It potentially cost them a former NFL First-Team All-Pro pass rusher, who combined for a whopping 35.0 total sacks from 2023-24 under their veteran defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo in Cincinnati.
Having to replace starting defensive end Kwity Paye, who coincidentally recently signed with the Raiders of all other NFL teams, Holder expects the Colts to also pivot to another remaining impact pass rusher. However, there’s quite a bit of drop off from Hendrickson to the leftover free agent pass rushers after the first waves of free agency, so whether they’ll be actually successful in such an attempted feat remains unclear.
For what it’s worth, the Colts seem like the longest of long shots to trade for Crosby now, after already surrendering their next two first round picks for former New York Jets All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner ahead of last season’s trade deadline in a blockbuster move.
The Colts appear to be poised to make another move on a pass rusher, it’s just a matter of who exactly now.
