The Indianapolis Colts are still riding the Trey Hendrickson roller coaster, as their slim hopes of signing the superstar defender continue to be kept alive by the slimmest of margins. As the NFL prepares for the draft on Thursday, Colts fans are surely hoping for a pick that could reunite Hendrickson with his former defensive coordinator, Lou Anarumo, who left the Bengals for the Colts. Currently, Hendrickson does not seem to be on good terms with Cincinnati, and if they make the right pick, could it mean a trade is possible?
From the beginning, Hendrickson has made it clear that he wants to leave Cincinnati - and, conversely, the Bengals want him to stay. While Hendrickson was given permission to seek a trade, the Bengals want to extend his contract. The problem is paying him the money he feels he deserves. While there's no disputing that Hendrickson should get a star-worthy contract, the problem is that Cincinnati already shelled out major cash to keep Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase.
In a recent appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, ESPN analyst Peter Schrager argued that Hendrickson might end up getting the trade he wants after all... if the Bengals manage to sign a major star in the draft, like Shemar Stewart.
"Based on what Cincinnati does at 17 - look, if they take Shemar Stewart out of Texas A&M at 17, that suddenly makes Trey Hendrickson a lot more, you know, easy to get rid of, and say okay, well, we can at least go to bed knowing we've got a guy that we just drafted who's going to make way less that we have the utmost thoughts for.Peter Schrager
... I have done this a long time you never see the veteran player traded a day before or that deal made until the day of, and it's usually after the pick was already selected."
Hendrickson hasn't specifically said he wants to come to Indianapolis, but it would make sense. Not only would he be a great fit for the Colts defense, it would reunite him with Anarumo, someone Hendrickson has had nothing but positive things to say about.
"I was blessed to be productive under his scheme, and I think he does a good job of making a very open room, meaning you can talk to him about scheme," he has previously said. "This doesn't necessarily fit to what we think we're going to do to attack him. Very organic. And, you know, he's a leader of elite men. Lou Anarumo is a leader of men and he's a great friend to me."
He continued, "It was one of those things that, there were some question marks when I signed in Cincinnati originally and, you know, he's always been there and supporting me in every direction that I had to go, and as I continue to grow as a player, to stay humble and to be productive under his defense was special."
It seems like drafting Stewart and releasing Hendrickson in a trade to Indianapolis would be a win for everyone - Cincinnati would get an athletic new defender and save themselves the millions they will have to pay to keep Hendrickson.