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Will the 49ers Trade for Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson?

He'd instantly be the 49ers' best player.
Grant Cohn|
Jan 4, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson (91) celebrates as the Pittsburgh Steelers prepare to punt in the fourth quarter at Acrisure Stadium. The Bengals won 19-17 to finish the regular season at 9-8. Mandatory Credit: Sam Greene/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images
Jan 4, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson (91) celebrates as the Pittsburgh Steelers prepare to punt in the fourth quarter at Acrisure Stadium. The Bengals won 19-17 to finish the regular season at 9-8. Mandatory Credit: Sam Greene/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images | Sam Greene/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

Trey Hendrick wants a contract extension and the Bengals have given him permission to seek a trade. Will the 49ers get him?

We know the 49ers tried to sign Joey Bosa before he ultimately joined the Buffalo Bills. And before the 49ers tried to sign Bosa, they released Leonard Floyd. So they desperately need someone to replace him.

Hendrickson is much better than Floyd and Joey Bosa. In fact, Hendrickson is even better than Nick Bosa. Check the stats. In the past two seasons, Hendrickson has 35 sacks while Bosa has just 19.5.

If the 49ers were to trade for Hendrickson, they probably would have the best pair of edge rushers in the NFL. They also would have possibly the most expensive pair of edge rushers depending on the extension the 49ers would give Hendrickson after trading for him.

And that's why the 49ers probably won't trade for Hendrickson. They certainly would love to have him, but they've earmarked most of their cash this year for Brock Purdy's contract extension -- they probably can't pay him and Hendrickson at the same time. They'd have to pick one or the other. And it seems the 49ers are committed to Purdy. At least for now.

If something shocking happens and the 49ers trade Purdy before the Draft, then they absolutely could trade for Hendrickson. Would they rather have him and Mac Jones or just Purdy? Probably just Purdy, but you never know.

Hendrickson is that good. He'd instantly be the 49ers' best player.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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