The New England Patriots have needs to address on both sides of the ball, and while everyone seems to be focused on their lack of skill players offensively, they are also in desperate need of pass rushers.
The Patriots finished with just 28 sacks this past season, which ranked last in the NFL. Considering they traded Matthew Judon before the 2024 campaign began, that probably shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.
New England will have to search for some serious help along its front seven in the coming weeks, and the Pats certainly have the cap room to make something happen.
And now, a very significant trade target may have just become available for the Patriots: Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson.
Hendrickson has requested a trade as a result of a contract dispute with the club, which should immediately put him on New England’s radar.
Sara Marshall of Musket Fire feels that the Pats should absolutely contact the Bengals about a potential deal even though Cincinnati may not be too open to actually moving Hendrickson.
“It should make them a bit weary to engage in serious trade talks, but it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t explore it,” Marshall said of the Patriots potentially pursuing Hendrickson. “We are talking about a player who recorded 46 combined tackles, 19 for a loss, 36 quarterback hits, six passes defended, two forced fumbles and a whopping 17.5 sacks last season, after all.”
Hendrickson has actually rattled off 17.5 sacks in each of the last two seasons, and this past year, he led the NFL in that category and earned his first career First-Team All-Pro selection. He also finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
The 30-year-old has just one year left on his deal, so it should be interesting to see if the Patriots make an aggressive push for him.
