Chicago Bears’ doomsday scenario starts on Tuesday when it comes to trying to acquire their top target in free agency
The Chicago Bears could have a much more difficult situation if they want to acquire Trey Hendrickson.
The NFL’s franchise tag window opens up today, Feb. 17, at 4:00 p.m. ET, giving teams the option to place a one-year tag on any rostered veteran, including pending free agents. The window will last for two weeks and officially close on Mar. 3 at 4:00 p.m. ET.
It’s an important day on the NFL offseason calendar but it’s not one that directly impacts the Chicago Bears this time around. The last time the Bears used the franchise tag was on CB Jaylon Johnson and it was only used to buy the team more time to work out a long-term extension.
This offseason the only player that makes sense to maybe franchise tag is safety Jaquan Brisker, who’s slated to hit free agency after playing out his rookie contract. But, even that is unlikely considering the tag price for a safety is projected to be over $20 million with Brisker’s market expected to be between $13-14 million per year on his second contract.
While it’s high unlikely the Bears use a franchise tag, this period can still heavily impact the team in another way when it comes to potentially acquiring their top free agent target.
Bengals could use the franchise tag on Trey Hendrickson and explore a tag-and-trade
One player who could receive the franchise tag over the next two weeks is Cincinnati Bengals pass rusher Trey Hendrickson, who’s expected to be THE top free agent but the Bengals could use the tag to prevent him from hitting the open market. But, it’s not with the intention to keep him, either.
As our own A to Z Sports Cincinnati writer John Sheeran laid out, the Bengals could look to tag-and-trade Hendrickson to make sure they get something in return for their top defensive player. It’d be a bold strategy but certainly a possibility other interested teams should prepare for.
“Tagging Hendrickson would cost Cincinnati $30.2 million in both cash and salary cap space, as it would be 120 percent of his 2025 salary. That’s a very large number and would take up more than half of the Bengals’ available cap space. For a team looking to add multiple additions to their defense this offseason, it feels unlikely the Bengals will tag Hendrickson with the intent on having him sign it and play under it.
That’s why if the tag finds Hendrickson, the expectation is Cincinnati will look to trade him to a team that wants to sign him to a multi-year contract. The Bengals could get a 2026 NFL Draft pick (or two) in return for trading the four-time Pro Bowler.” – Sheeran
A tag-and-trade scenario would be the worst case scenario for the Bears when it comes to going after Hendrickson this offseason. Not only would the Bears have to take on a $30.2 million tag, they’d also have to give up draft capital and then work out a long-term deal. Such a situation would actually make Maxx Crosby a more attractive player to go after to improve the pass rush.
Hendrickson has been linked multiple times to the Bears given his history with Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and the team’s desire to add another impact edge rusher. But, if this possibility becomes reality, the Bears would have no choice but to look a different direction.
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