Lions should see themselves as the ideal life raft for Trey Hendrickson

Trey Hendrickson is not happy with the Bengals, and the Lions should take notice.

As a contract stalemate with reigning NFL sack leader Trey Hendrickson continues, Cincinnati Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn dropped this tone-deaf message at the league meetings on Tuesday.

"I think he should be happy at certain rates that maybe he doesn’t think he’d be happy at,” Blackburn said. “I think some of it is on him to be happy at some point, and if he’s not, you know, that’s what holds it up sometimes. So, you know, it takes him to say yes to something...."

Blackburn attempted to soften her "at certain rates" comment, but the damage was done. The easy follow-up was how Hendrickson would react to the comments, if he did so publicly.

Hendrickson appeared during the second hour of "The Pat McAfee Show" Wednesday, and he was outright asked about what Blackburn said. He thought the comments might have been an April Fool's joke, but his agent confirmed it was not.

"Those comments from Katie Blackburn were definitely disappointing, and communication has been poor over the last couple of months", Hendrickson said. "It's been a little bit frustrating, and if they have anything they'd like to discuss, we're definitely willing to listen. When I say that communication has been poor, I mean that it's been here and there. We don't have any desire to be the highest paid, and we've tried to be as patient as possible. Three years ago, I began to ask for a long-term contract with guaranteed money. It was very confusing to read what I read yesterday."

Credit to Hendrickson for being so candid with how he feels about the situation. The Bengals botching this the way they are, now disrespecting Hendrickson while basically calling him out for wanting to a multi-year deal and to paid what he's worth, is not surprising. In this case, being on the player's side is easy.

The Bengals might subsequently say "we don't negotiate in public" when asked about what Hendrickson said. Oh, but Blackburn saying what she said says they do, and based on what Hendrickson said the only way to communicate is publicly right now.

The Detroit Lions should feel called to action on Trey Hendrickson

Before the situation came to its most recent head, ESPN's Bill Barnwell had the Lions trading for Hendrickson in his "all-trades" first round 2025 mock draft. Barnwell started his thoughts on the perfect note.

"The time for action is now....Hendrickson would slot in as a second elite rusher for Detroit. He would command a deal around $35 million per year, but the Lions could make that work with guarantees over the next two years. General manager Brad Holmes has generally done excellent work in the draft, but making an all-in move for Hendrickson is a reward for years of building things up the right way. If the Lions want to shift their defensive philosophy after losing coordinator Aaron Glenn to the Jets, Hendrickson would give them the ability to rush just four more often without needing to rely on blitzes."

In Barnwell's hypothetical trade, the Lions would give up pick No. 28 (of course) and pick No. 130 (fourth round) while getting Hendrickson and the 49th overall pick (second round) from the Bengals.

General manager Brad Holmes has been adamant about not believing in a "Super Bowl window", but the Lions are in one and it has narrowed. Ignoring the latter reality will not make it go away, as Holmes seems to hope it will by outright dismissing the idea of a "window."

When asked about the move to release Za'Darius Smith earlier this week, in reference to nearly $9 million in bonuses he had due early in the new league year, Holmes said "we couldn't afford it." Yes, it's a flimsy excuse, in some deference to future contract costs that are not even on the books yet. So a trade for Hendrickson would seem to automatically be off the table.

Head coach Dan Campbell knows Hendrickson from four seasons together with the New Orleans Saints (2017-2020), so maybe he could be a salesman about the potential intangible fit the Lions place so much value on.

If Barnwell's case for the Lions to make a deal for Hendrickson was not enough, Hendrickson's airing of frustration can been seen as a call for someone to rescue him from the Bengals' dysfunction and disrespect.

Holmes can defer to retaining players the Lions want to retain until he's a shade of blue darker than Honolulu Blue in the face. But the idea of trading for Hendrickson cannot be brushed off casually, and sitting out of a potential pursuit is not an option.