Over the years, Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht has developed a well-earned reputation for trading down in the NFL draft. The results have been hard to argue with.
Three times in the last decade he’s traded down in the draft. The one time he traded up was in 2020, to take offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs with the No. 13 overall pick — a player who has been a perennial NFL All-Pro and is arguably the NFL’s best overall offensive lineman.
With a team just one or two players away from being a legitimate Super Bowl contender in 2025, Licht should go against type and make a trade that would shake up the entire league and go after Cincinnati Bengals All-Pro edge rusher Trey Hendrickson.
Hendrickson, who led the NFL with 17.5 sacks in 2024, has repeatedly asked to be traded over the last year and is due $16 million in 2025 in the last year of his current contract — a deal that will bring his career earnings to approximately $84.2 million.
What Buccaneers Would Give Up For Hendrickson
In exchange for Hendrickson, the Buccaneers could send the Bengals their 2025 first round pick (No. 19 overall) and third-year edge rusher YaYa Diaby, a former third round pick who has 12.0 sacks over his first 2 seasons.
“There have been years where I’ve thought about (trading down) more than others. It just kind of depends on how things fall,” Licht told ESPN’s Jenna Laine on April 16. “You can’t walk into it saying, ‘I am definitely looking to trade back’ because you don’t know what’s going to fall to you. I do think this year is going to be — I could be wrong — you’re going to see maybe a little less people maybe wanting to move up and offering enough to make it worth your while just because the draft is pretty leveled out at a certain point. You might be able to get the same level of player in the second round as you can in the fourth round at certain positions, so I think you’ll maybe see a little bit less of that.”
Rams Used Same Strategy to Win Super Bowl
The Buccaneers don’t need to look far into the past to see a team that won a Super Bowl by swapping first round picks for veterans. The Los Angeles Rams traded 2 first round picks each for quarterback Matthew Stafford and cornerback Jalen Ramsey — 2 of the cornerstones on their Super Bowl-winning team in 2021.
Even if the Bengals were to press the Buccaneers for their 2026 first round pick, it’s a deal Licht should still consider.
Getting Hendrickson in the fold would create arguably the NFL’s best defensive front with Hendrickson, interior defensive linemen Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey and edge rusher Haason Reddick, who signed a 1-year, $14 million free agent contract on March 10.
In Reddick, the Buccaneers can also see the worst possible outcome of a trade for Hendrickson. The Philadelphia Eagles traded Reddick to the New York Jets before the 2024 season and with one season left on his contract, which led to a messy holdout that saw him miss 7 games before returning and having the worst season of his career.
Avoiding that same sort of disaster with Hendrickson would be critical to any deal.
Blockbuster Trade Pitch Swaps Bucs’ First Round Pick for $84 Million Edge Rusher