Five edge rushers Seahawks should sign in 2021 free agency

Trey Hendrickson

There is likely no way Trey Hendrickson is going to go back to his former team, the New Orleans Saints. The Saints have massive cap issues in 2021, even with the likely retirement of quarterback Drew Brees. This means that Hendrickson will be set free on the open market this offseason. Now that the Seahawks have released Carlos Dunlap, there is a little money to spend and a lot of that $14 million that was saved by releasing Dunlap should go towards signing Hendrickson.

But Seattle, nor should any team, overpay for Hendrickson. There have been lots of one-hit wonders in the NFL over the years who had one great season as far as sack numbers go and never repeated those same numbers. Hendrickson has played four seasons in the NFL and has a career total of 20 sacks and 18 tackles-for-loss.

This means that 68 percent of Hendrickson’s career total for sacks and 67 percent of his career tackles-for-loss came in 2020. Hendrickson had 13.5 sacks last year (tied for second in the NFL) and 12 tackles-for-loss. Can Hendrickson show in 2021 and 2022 and so on that he can be nearly as good as he was in 2020?

It may also be telling that in the Saints one playoff game in 2020, Hendrickson did nothing. No tackles, no sacks, nothing. So when he was needed to play big, he didn’t.

Still, the Seahawks need to take a chance on someone to sign to be their key edge rusher and Hendrickson is only 26 years old so maybe he finally figured out what to do last year. Plus, he is a classic 4-3 end and that is what the Seahawks play. If Seattle can get him for $10 million a season, they should.