The Bucs need an elite edge rusher. Trey Hendrickson wants to resume his NFL career in Tampa Bay.
The Bucs need an elite edge rusher. Trey Hendrickson wants to resume his NFL career in Tampa Bay.
Sounds like a perfect match.
That’s at least the claim by one NFL insider, who says the soon-to-be free agent would like to return to his home state
Hendrickson, a four-time Pro Bowl player who had back-to-back 17 ½-sack seasons for the Bengals in 2023-24, had just four last season while playing in only seven games and undergoing surgery for a core muscle injury.
During a recent appearance on the “Pardon My Take” podcast, ESPN’s Adam Schefter said Hendrickson “would love to be in Tampa.”
“He lives in Ponte Verde,” Schefter said. “I don’t think the (Jacksonville) Jaguars have the requisite cap room for him.
“Tampa would be a great fit. I think, in a perfect world, Trey would like to stay in Florida. No state income tax. But he’s also open to going to the best possible situation.”
The Bucs’ focus this offseason must be on improving a defense that finished 21st in yards allowed (341.0) and 20 in scoring defense (24.8 points per game) last season. It also struggled in passing defense (27th) and red-zone defense (32nd), and Yaya Diaby led the team with a mere seven sacks.
Another option for the Bucs would be to try to trade for Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby, who has said he wants out of Las Vegas. However, Crosby could cost a team two first-round picks and/or a starting player.
Hendrickson won’t come cheap. After holding out of training camp last season in hopes of forcing a trade, he agreed to a reworked one-year, $30 million contract with the Bengals. Cincinnati opted not to use the franchise tag on him Tuesday, meaning he most likely will become an unrestricted free agent.
The Bucs currently are $11.35 million under the salary cap but could create more space with simple restructures of contracts for tackles Tristan Wirfs and Luke Goedeke, and safety Antoine Winfield Jr.
The Bucs haven’t had the best luck acquiring edge rushers in the NFL draft. Chris Braswell, a second-round pick two years ago, has 2 ½ career sacks. Defensive end Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, a late first-round pick in 2021, never panned out and the club didn’t pick up his fifth-year option for 2025.
“Sometimes you miss,” Bucs coach Todd Bowles said last week at the NFL combine. “I mean, the draft, there’s a lot of things you go through. You want to pick the right guys. You miss. We had drafted tough guys. The pass rush is obviously not where I want it to be.
“We’ve got to coach it better, and we’ve got to play better. That’s a position that’s obviously of need, and a few other ones are. Going into the draft and free agency, we know what we need to address.”
At the top of that list is a pass rusher, someone who can help get the Bucs defense off the field.
Could Hendrickson be that guy for Tampa Bay?
“If Trey has a pick, I think he’d like to end up there,” Schefter said. “But we’ll see how it works out that way.’’
Hendrickson, 31, played college football at Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton from 2013-16.
The question is, if the Bucs were to sign Hendrickson, how would it impact their ability to also sign wide receiver Mike Evans?
In some ways, Evans may see it as a sign that team ownership is committed to winning a Super Bowl. At the very least, the start of free agency next week will determine whether the Bucs are all-in for 2026.
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Category: General Sports
