The Commanders need an edge, and they could be pursuing Trey Hendrickson now or could wait to see if Myles Garrett becomes available?
ASHBURN, Va. — The Washington Commanders clearly need to improve their edge group with both Clelin Ferrell and Dante Fowler Jr. currently expected to become free agents next week if neither is re-signed before then.
Two big options have jumped onto the potentially available market with edge defenders Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns and Trey Hendrickson of the Cincinnati Bengals both requesting trades. There are hurdles to obtaining both, however, so the answer isn’t simply which one is the best for the Commanders, but which approach is.
Here’s an in-depth breakdown of the situation between the two potentially available defenders and how Washington might approach making a deal for either one.
MYLES VS. TREY
Hendrickson is the older of the two, by nearly one year exactly. While Garrett turns 30 late this December, Hendrickson turns 31 in early December.
Each of them will also be due a new contract sooner rather than later. For Hendrickson, his current deal expires at the end of the 2025 NFL season while Garrett has a couple of years left on his, but might want a new deal with any team that trades for him anyway.
In addition to this consideration, Garrett is projected by Spotrac to demand about $5 million per year more than Hendrickson on their respective next deals.
Looking at each player's production over the past two seasons Hendrickson has played just one more game than Garrett while splitting his snaps between a down lineman defensive end for the Bengals and a stand-up outside linebacker. Garrett’s snaps came largely as a down lineman, typically on the right side of the defensive formation.
Hendrickson has more sacks (35) than Garrett (37) along with having more quarterback hurries, while the Browns’ star leads in many other categories such as total pressures, solo tackles, forced fumbles, and fumble recoveries.
Garrett is also considered the better run defender of the two.
All things considered, Garrett is considered the better player, but Hendrickson is not too far off having made the Pro Bowl each of the last four seasons and earning his first First-Team All-Pro selection this past year.
That leads us to the next part of this equation.
COMPENSATION
Outside of the fact that Hendrickson is likely to be about $5 million per year cheaper on his next contract, the Commanders won’t have to pony up for as much draft capital to trade for him either.
By estimations, Garrett would fetch Cleveland two first-round picks and more while Locked On Bengals host James Rapien tells us that Hendrickson could be had for No. 29 this year alone, and even that might return some Day 3 capital in return.
Since the willingness for Cincinnati to move Hendrickson seems to be largely financial–Washington would acquire $16 million against the cap this season in a deal–that may drive the asking price down a bit, along with the fact that he’s playing on an expiring contract and would need a new deal worth close to $30 million per year by estimations.
DOOR NO. 1 OR DOOR NO. 2?
Garrett is the better player and therefore the player conventional thought points to wanting Washington to pursue.
However, he’s not officially available and just this week Browns owner Jimmy Haslam declined a request to meet with Garrett, which we’re sure didn’t exactly make the player warm up to his current franchise.
If there’s an option between waiting to see if you can get a greater player over getting a great player now, we say go get the guy that elevates your defense and is actually available. That would be Hendrickson, who also draws comparisons to Washington legend Ryan Kerrigan who just so happens to be the team’s pass rush specialist on the coaching staff today.
For all the reasons above, there’s no reason the Commanders shouldn’t be at least window shopping and checking price tags for Hendrickson, even though Garrett may eventually become available once the Browns come to their senses.
