The Seattle Seahawks will not stop looking for pieces that can help their defense be great. After bringing back most of the significant players from last season, the team signed edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence in free agency. The top 10 defense should be even better in 2025.
However, one notable absence from the Seahawks' seemingly excellent 2025 draft was that general manager John Schneider did not choose an edge rusher. Nine of Seattle’s 11 picks played offense. The two defensive selections were a safety and a defensive lineman, Rylie Mills.
Mills is coming off an injury, and he is more likely to be a true defensive lineman than an edge rusher. Seattle did add the 30-plus-year-old Lawrence, but the team also has younger players such as Boye Mafe and Derick Hall. Mafe, though, is entering the final year of his rookie contract.
The Seahawks should aggressively pursue a trade of disgruntled Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson
One question that no one knows, except Schneider and head coach Mike Macdonald, is how much the Seahawks want to invest in Mafe. He is a good player but has not yet produced a 10-sack season. This is the case even though he has gotten off to some great starts. He just cannot consistently sustain success into the second half of seasons.
One player who can is Cincinnati Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson. In back-to-back seasons, he has had 17.5-sack years. He is also quite good against the run. The final year of his current deal is over after the 2025 season, and he has made it known he wants an extension. The Bengals did the same for wide receivers Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase, but not their excellent defensive player.
According to a recent ESPN report, Hendrickson said the Bengals and his people have not spoken since the 2025 NFL draft. Cincinnati's ownership previously implied that they would aggressively pursue Hendrickson for an extension, which seems false.
In other words, there is no better time than now for John Schneider to reach out multiple times to Cincy to kick the tires on a proverbial trade. This could even mean shipping Mafe and a 2026 draft pick to the Bengals in return for Hendrickson.
Mafe and Hendrickson will be expensive in 2026, but one has produced far better.
If Schneider and Mike Macdonald feel that the team is anywhere close to competing this coming season, Hendrickson is worth taking a chance on. He would expect an extension, but the Seahawks have the money to do that immediately.
Sure, he is now over 30 years old, but he has shown no signs of slowing down. In his next three seasons, he could help Seattle become a Super Bowl champion.