Do the Philadelphia Eagles know that legal tampering has begun? That's sarcastic, sure, but the Eagles have been mostly silent. Outside of a minor Kenny Pickett trade and an A.J. Dillon signing, Howie Roseman has moved in silence.
To make matters worse, several key contributors from this past season's Super Bowl win have moved on, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. Milton Williams, Darius Slay Jr., and Josh Sweat are among those who have departed for other teams in free agency, and Philadelphia traded C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
Understandably, Eagles fans are panicking at this moment and time. Outside of re-signing Zack Baun and extending Saquon Barkley, the Eagles have done virtually nothing impactful, and they've been allowed to make moves for several days now.
As frustrating as it might be to see Roseman start the offseason off slowly, it's far from over. Roseman has ample time to build a team good enough to repeat as Super Bowl champions, and there is one player who can do just that. That is Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson.
Eagles can make up for early offseason inactivity by acquiring Trey Hendrickson
The fact that the Bengals have even allowed Hendrickson, one of the premier defensive linemen in the NFL, to seek trades is shocking. I know that they'd like to keep Joe Burrow happy by paying Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, but parting with Hendrickson, one of the best defensive players in the NFL, when the rest of their defense leaves a lot to be desired is a choice, and not a good one.
Hendrickson is a game-changer. He led the NFL with 17.5 sacks this past season, matching his output from the 2023 campaign. He has racked up at least 13.5 sacks in four of his past five seasons. Only one player in an Eagles uniform has recorded 13.5 sacks in a single season since 2020. No Eagles player recorded more than eight sacks in 2024. The Eagles have had some good edge rushers, but none of them were on the level Hendrickson is on right now.
Losing talented defensive players only to then go out and acquire possibly the best defensive player to switch teams this offseason would be such a Roseman outcome, and it's one that feels incredibly realistic right about now.