Tuesday night was quite the chaotic scene for NFL free agency, as the Ravens and Raiders' trade of Maxx Crosby went up in flames. All of the attention turned to fellow edge rusher Trey Hendrickson, who ultimately ended up in Baltimore after the dust had settled.
According to NFL insider Jeremy Fowler, however, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were reportedly one of the teams in the mix for Hendrickson. Fowler reporter that the Bucs wanted Hendrickson on a short-term deal though and that's why nothing happened between the two sides. It's hard to blame them for that given Hendrickson missed 10 games last year with a hip injury.
Bucs were interested in Trey Hendrickson but only a short-term deal
To say that Hendrickson would have been a nice piece to the puzzle in the Bucs' pass-rushing problems would be an understatement. They've needed help getting after the quarterback and very few have done it better than Hendrickson in recent years.
That being said, only wanting Hendrickson on a short-term deal makes plenty of sense. He's 31 years old and coming off hip-pelvic surgery, which isn't a great combination. Jason Licht is very smart in these situations and if he didn't want to give Hendrickson the four-year deal that the Ravens did, we should trust that he knows what he's doing.
With Hendrickson officially not coming to Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers still desperately need help at pass rusher. They have the draft as a fallback plan if they can't find anyone in free agency, which isn't a bad spot to be in.
Hendrickson might have felt like a great option to bring in but his age factored in with his recent injury and surgery made him too much of a risk that Licht ultimately deemed wasn't worth taking. We'll have to see if the Buccaneers made the right call here or not.