It's Now or Never for Colts to Sign Trey Hendrickson

Four-time Pro Bowler and former First-Team All-Pro defensive end Trey Hendrickson has been linked to the Indianapolis Colts since last season.

The difference is that it was for a trade with the Cincinnati Bengals. Now, the path to getting Hendrickson has never been clearer after the Bengals decided not to franchise tag the fantastic pass-rusher.

Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson is not being tagged and now will become an unrestricted free agent. pic.twitter.com/ZyJn4eN6cj
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 3, 2026

While this opens the door for plenty of teams to pursue Hendrickson, there's perhaps no better fit for him than reuniting with his former defensive coordinator, Lou Anarumo.

Hendrickson's 2025 was cut short by injury, limiting him to seven games and 4.0 sacks. His sack totals were the lowest since the 2019 season with the New Orleans Saints (4.5).

Regardless of the injury, Hendrickson still applied consistent pressure to quarterbacks and logged one of the top pass-rushing grades per Pro Football Focus (90.0).

The biggest hurdle to Indianapolis acquiring Hendrickson's services will be the cap situation the Colts find themselves in.

Per Over the Cap, Indianapolis is in a negative cap situation with -$4,715,711. This is due to the $37.833 million transition tag the franchise placed on quarterback Daniel Jones.

Indianapolis must be under the cap by the time free agency officially opens on March 11th at 4 pm Eastern Standard Time.

They're already at work to get this done after it was reported that they're shopping linebacker Zaire Franklin for a trade.

The Colts are speaking with teams about a trade for their former Pro Bowl LB Zaire Franklin as they look to get under the salary cap by next week, per sources. Franklin led the NFL in tackles in 2024. pic.twitter.com/6t0BJzwkYc
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 6, 2026

If Indianapolis executes this trade, it saves them $5.755 million in 2026 and $9.005 million in 2027. This is the type of move that is needed to get out of the hole Indianapolis finds themselves in.

Hendrickson's value is pretty steep. Per Spotrac, he commands a market value of $25.4 million annually, which would put a sizeable dent into the Colts' cap account.

Along with Franklin, another long-time veteran would save Indianapolis immense bank with a trade or cut, and that's wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr.

Pittman is on a three-year, $70 million deal. However, parting ways with Pittman would save Indianapolis $24 million for the 2026 season. That type of coin recouped would open up signing a dynamic talent like Hendrickson.

Indy needs more from their pass-rush in a big way, as it was quite underwhelming in 2025. If you factor out Laiatu Latu's 8.5 sacks, the rest of the three defensive ends accounted for a meager nine sacks (Kwity Paye 4.0, Tyquan Lewis 3.0, Samson Ebukam 2.0).

The Colts have other roster needs outside of defensive end, but it will be critical to improve this position group for Anarumo. There's no better way to do that with an immediate impact than signing Hendrickson.

Colts defensive end Trey Hendrickson (black and white jersey) stands on the sideline to take a breather. — Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson (91) watches a replay as the Detroit Lions celebrate a touchdown in the fourth quarter of the NFL Week 5 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Detroit Lions at Paycor Stadium in downtown Cincinnati on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. The Bengals continued a losing streak, falling 37-24 to the Lions. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Hendrickson's best ball was underneath Anarumo. The proof is no more apparent than in the 2023 and 2024 seasons, where Hendrickson posted 17.5 sacks in each and even led the NFL during his 2024 First-Team All-Pro season.

The Colts have a lot to handle as the legal tampering period looms on March 9th, followed by the opening of free agency two days after.

Edge rusher is a massive point to handle, and Hendrickson's name will be linked to Indianapolis until he finally finds a destination.

We'll see if that new scene is back with Anarumo in the Circle City.

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