The Chargers got some good news this week. Khalil Mack’s arm injury, initially feared to be serious, is “only” a dislocated elbow. He’ll miss a few weeks but should be able to return wearing a brace.
That said — if I’m Joe Hortiz, I’m still picking up the phone and calling the Bengals about Trey Hendrickson.
The Trade Comp Blueprint
Forget Micah Parsons as a comp. Parsons is 26, a generational superstar, and rightfully cost two first-round picks. In fact, the Chargers have an in-house example that perfectly illustrates the difference between Micah Parson’s value and Hendrickson’s, simply by comparing the Khalil Mack’s trades to and from the Bears.
- Khalil Mack to the Bears (2018):
Raiders got two 1sts, a 3rd, and a 6th. Mack was 27, in his prime, and signed a record-setting deal. - Khalil Mack to the Chargers (2022):
Bears got a 2nd and a 6th. Mack was 31 and still productive, and on a cost-controlled deal with no guaranteed money left that only enhanced his value to the Chargers.
Here are two more veteran Edge trades that may come to mind. Both showcase different elements of
- Von Miller to the Rams (2021):
Broncos got a 2nd and a 3rd, but only because they ate $9M of Miller’s remaining $9.7M salary, leaving the Rams on the hook for just $700K. Without Denver paying, that deal doesn’t happen. - Matthew Judon to the Falcons (2024):
Patriots got a 3rd. Judon was entering the final year of his deal, owed just $6.5M base, and coming off a biceps injury. No salary-eating by New England was reported.
The lesson: EDGE trade value is driven by age, contract , cash flow as well as production and injury history.
Where Hendrickson Fits
Hendrickson carries a $16M base salary this season. If he’s traded after Week 3, the acquiring team would only be responsible for 14/17ths of that salary – about $13.1M. The Bengals save millions, and the Chargers absorb a cap hit that is manageable within their current flexibility.
Hendrickson isn’t just insurance against Mack’s elbow injury or retirement in 2026 – he’s one of the league’s most consistent disruptors. He’s recorded multiple double-digit sack seasons, ranking among the NFL leaders in pass-rush win rate. Unlike some veterans, his production hasn’t tailed off late in his 20s. He’d give the Chargers a second true pressure-generator across from Mack.
The Case for the Chargers
- Veteran Bridge: If Hortiz negotiates a three-year extension, Hendrickson can slide into the same role Mack has filled – a productive veteran leader who holds the edge while the front office scouts or drafts a younger long-term answer. The Chargers cap flexibility also isn’t prohibiting bring Mack back for another year if he decides to push off retirement.
- Fixing the Weak Spot: The Chargers’ defense under Harbaugh has been tough, but the one weakness has been generating consistent non-schemed pressure. Hendrickson gives them that.
- Pick Value: The Chargers are almost guaranteed to spend a Day 1 or 2 pick on an EDGE in the next draft. Using that draft capital on a player who helps immediately in a win-now window is great business… especially if they can extend Hendrickson.
The Bottom Line
Because of his contract, Hendrickson isn’t a Mack-to-the-Bears level haul. He’s closer to Mack-to-the-Chargers or Judon-to-the-Falcons. That means his trade value likely lands at a back-end 2nd-round pick – maybe even a 3rd, but a 2nd feels more realistic.
Even with Mack set to return, Hendrickson is the move that makes this defense feared. For Joe Hortiz, this is the kind of deal that signals to the league – and the locker room – that the Chargers are all in right now.
⚡️ Make the call.
I like this trade for the Chargers. A lot. It would enable the Chargers to take their time with Mack’s return and then give them a strong boost down the stretch with both.
On this:
I’m pretty sure players get paid during bye weeks, meaning it would be 15/18 weeks of salary = $13.333M. Obviously not a big difference, but a little more.
I am following the Chargers’ cap weekly this season. I most recently updated on Sunday (9/14). As of that date, I calculated that the team had $13.988M available for 2025, but there are a lot of moving parts:
That currently counts full salaries for LS Harris and CB Leonard on IR. They are designated to return at some point. If they return to the active roster, that will bump players off the active roster, generating credit for their full salaries being counted today.But there will likely be more players added to IR over the remainder of the season, which will impact the other way, i.e., more cap expense.This is not accounting for any practice squad elevations beyond week 1 and maybe week 2 (not certain week 2 was accounted for). Prior to the season, I estimated that full season activations would account for ~$961K.This doesn’t account for signing any free agent to the active roster. Doing so would displace a player from the roster. The free agent’s salary could be higher, and displacing a player from the roster might generate some amount of dead money.This doesn’t account for trading for a player. Same as signing a free agent.This doesn’t account for practice squad churn. Right now, the team has the maximum 4 veterans at higher practice squad salaries. If they replaced one with a non-veteran, that would save a little cap room.Since it is hard to predict how all of that will play out, it seems appropriate for the Chargers to reserve $3-4M. So their effective available cap space is probably more like $10-11M.
Hendrickson’s salary doesn’t fit into that number, obviously, but an extension for him could solve that. The team could also restructure an existing player contract, like Herbert or James.
I think this is doable, but it would effectively eliminate cap flexibility the rest of the season. I think that is a worthy tradeoff, and I would do it.
Final note: As I was writing this,
Blue Beers posted about Ferrell. The impact of that signing is not reflected in my post.
I like the idea of the trade too, but why would the Bengals entertain it right now? With Burrow out until December, they need a good defense to tread water with Jake Browning.
Given the Bengals are 2 – 0 right now, I can only see them trading him if they drop like 7 games in a row and head to mid-season at 2 – 7 or maybe 3 – 6. Otherwise they’d likely just hold out hope, no? And by that point, Mack will be back anyways so I’m not sure how much draft capital the Chargers would want to give up for a half season.
You’re probably right. I assume the Bengals are still believing they can get to the playoffs.
Their next 5 games: @MIN, @DEN, DET, @GB, PIT. The Bengals probably would have been favored in only 1 of those games (PIT) with Burrow. Without Burrow, they could go 0-5.
If that happens, I could see the Bengals deciding to just shut down Burrow for the season and take their lumps for a high draft slot next year. In that scenario, they could decide to trade Hendrickson to get something for him, since he will presumably walk after the season. That would also generate cap savings for them to roll over into 2026.
The good news for a trade partner like the Chargers in that scenario is that the team that acquires him after 7 games only has to pay 11/18 = $9.8M of his salary.
Tau – I snuck a pesk at the cap situation as I was writing this… I dont have my tracker spreadsheet going right now (it’s harder for me to stay engaged when we arent in a cap crunch 😆) but yes, I know we can’t just slide Hendrickson’s salary into our current sheet. But since we have the most cap next season – and by a margin – the assumption is we would quickly restructure a deal or sign Trey to an extension to make it happen. The key point IMO is we have a TON of flexibility to make that happen in a non-punative fashion.
Blue- I agree with the Bengals not being ready to “sell” right now, but I think after a couple losses that may change quickly. They are a notoriously cheap organization. I dont know which wins out for them between not wanting to “punt” on this season vs hating to spend money and knowing they are throwing money down the drain paying Trey when Burrow is reported to be out until the very end of the season.
Chargers are signing Clelin Ferrell. Don’t love it, but its better than nothing and likely an upgrade to Dupree/Murphy and Kennard is clearly not ready to contribute at the NFL level (I never really liked that pick to begin with, but fingers crossed there).