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Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport predicted Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys to sign Trey Hendrickson to a 3-year, $97.5 million contract.<\/p>\n
The Dallas Cowboys<\/a> missed on acquiring Maxx Crosby<\/a> in a trade from the Las Vegas Raiders<\/a>. But they could quickly pivotal to the veteran edge rushers set to be available in NFL<\/a> free agency. Bleacher Report\u2019s Gary Davenport sees that happening with the Cowboys and Trey Hendrickson<\/a>.<\/p>\n Davenport predicted<\/a> the Cowboys to \u201cdrop a bomb\u201d and bring in Hendrickson on a mammoth deal.<\/p>\n Davenport projected the contract to be a 3-year, $97.5 million deal.<\/p>\n \u201cHendrickson struggled through an injury-marred 2025 campaign in Cincinnati, but as recently as two years ago he led the NFL with 17.5 sacks, and his metrics were good last year when he was healthy,\u201d wrote Davenport<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe math here would admittedly be tricky. But by adding a third year to what is essentially a two-year deal, Jones could do once again what he has so often in the past\u2014play a shell game and move the big hit farther down the road.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter tying for the fifth-fewest sacks in the league last year, the Cowboys have to improve the pass rush.\u201d<\/p>\n From 2023-24, no defender in the league had more sacks than Hendrickson. With the Cincinnati Bengals<\/a>, he made<\/a> first-team All-Pro while recording 17.5 sacks, 19 tackles for loss and 36 quarterback hits during 2024.<\/p>\n Why the Cowboys Could Target Trey Hendrickson in 2026 NFL Free Agency<\/p>\n ESPN\u2019s Adam Schefter reported<\/a> the Cowboys offered a first and second-round pick for Crosby. But the Raiders received a better deal from the Baltimore Ravens<\/a>, who offered two first rounders.<\/p>\n The Cowboys balked<\/a> at offering two first-round choices. There could be several reasons for that decision.<\/p>\n Perhaps the Cowboys simply found two first-rounders too expensive for Crosby.<\/p>\n Another possibility, though, is Dallas knew Hendrickson was already set to be available in NFL free agency.<\/p>\n Hendrickson is older but a great option B to Crosby. Before last season, Hendrickson had made<\/a> four straight Pro Bowls while averaging 14 sacks per season.<\/p>\n Hendrickson has been a late bloomer in his career. He had just 6.5 sacks during his first three seasons combined. But then he broke out with 13.5 sacks in his final season with the New Orleans Saints<\/a> during 2020.<\/p>\n The edge rusher became an annual Pro Bowler with the Bengals.<\/p>\n Last season, Hendrickson posted four sacks, three tackles for loss and eight quarterback hits in seven games. He missed 10 contests because of core muscle surgery<\/a>.<\/p>\n What Will Hendrickson Cost in Free Agency?<\/p>\n A lot of NFL analysts have rated the Bengals edge rusher the top free agent, at any position, for 2026. With that, Hendrickson will likely come with a major price tag.<\/p>\n ESPN\u2019s Dan Graziano predicted<\/a> the more modest price of $84 million on a 3-year deal. The Athletic\u2019s Daniel Popper, though, projected Hendrickson to get a $99 million contract.<\/p>\n \u201cHendrickson has been one of the most productive pass rushers in the NFL over the past five seasons,\u201d Popper wrote<\/a>. \u201cHe has the third-most sacks in the league since 2020 with 74.5, and he played in only seven games last season due a core-muscle injury that required surgery.<\/p>\n \u201cHendrickson is dominant with his hands to swipe past a tackle\u2019s strike. He also features numerous changeups off his wide moves, including lethal speed-to-power that takes advantage of a tackle\u2019s momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n While the edge rusher\u2019s biggest strength is his pass rush ability, he\u2019s also received rave reviews for his work against the run.<\/p>\n The Cowboys defense was<\/a> a little better against the run than pass last season. But Dallas needs defenders that are going to help upgrade the unit in a lot of ways.<\/p>\n During 2025, the Cowboys were 30th in yards allowed and 32nd in points yielded. They were also near the bottom of the barrel in most pass defense categories.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tDave Holcomb<\/a> is a sports reporter covering the NFL and MLB for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions. Originally from Pittsburgh, Holcomb has covered college and professional sports for outlets including FanSided, Rotowire and Yardbarker. More about Dave Holcomb<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Cowboys\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport predicted Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys to sign Trey Hendrickson to a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":194997,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103],"class_list":{"0":"post-194996","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-dallas","9":"tag-dallas-headlines","10":"tag-dallas-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194996\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}