The Dallas Cowboys caught almost relentless flak for trading superstar edge-rusher Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers just before the season began, but the offense has kept the team’s head above water in the five games since, and an opportunity is developing for Dallas to right whatever wrong it may have committed in letting Parsons go.
Parsons wanted a massive extension, which he got from the Packers to the tune of a historic $186 million deal across four years — the largest non-QB contract in NFL history. The Cowboys couldn’t afford to pay him that much because of all the money they had already invested in quarterback Dak Prescott, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and cornerback Trevon Diggs, as well as the deal to which the team signed cornerback DaRon Bland after parting ways with Parsons.
So Dallas turned Parsons into two first-round picks and interior defensive lineman Kenny Clark, who is a quality player in his own right. If the Cowboys could use one of those first-rounders to find a similarly skilled pass-rusher to replace Parsons, the move would look far less egregious and debilitating in the near- to mid-term run over the next couple of seasons.
Enter defensive end Trey Hendrickson of the reeling Cincinnati Bengals. Hendrickson wanted a new deal this summer, then wanted out of Cincinnati when the team balked at extension talks. He got a raise to $29 million in 2025, but is also headed for free agency next summer, and the if the Bengals wanted to pay the 30-year-old Hendrickson big on a multiyear contract, it probably would have already happened.
It made sense for Cincinnati to hold onto Hendrickson when the offense had a chance to be one of the best in the NFL. But with Joe Burrow out indefinitely and the team turning to a trade for 40-year-old QB Joe Flacco earlier this week as its stop-gap measure, Hendrickson looks like perhaps the league’s top trade deadline target. And as Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report pointed out on Wednesday, Dallas is a perfect fit.
“The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported in August that the Bengals wanted a 2026 first-round pick and a young defensive player in return for Hendrickson,” Knox wrote. “They probably can’t expect that return, but they would have to consider a strong offer for the impending 2026 free agent, especially if they’re below .500 at the deadline.”
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