The Ravens made their splash move this offseason by handing Trey Hendrickson a four-year, $112 million deal, and the bet is simple: fix a defensive line that was hard to watch in 2025 by adding one of the league’s top edge rushers.
Not everybody is buying the move at full price. Baltimore already drew a puzzling ‘C’ from FanSided’s Cody Williams back in May, and Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton has now taken his shot at the Hendrickson signing too, giving it a ‘B-’ in his re-grades of the biggest offseason moves.
“Regardless of the intentions, the Ravens paid a premium for an edge-rusher coming off an injury-shortened campaign. Baltimore felt more comfortable with Hendrickson's physical than with Crosby's, but the former's short-term durability remains a question mark in his age-32 campaign.”
There’s some logic behind the skepticism. Baltimore’s decision to back out of the Crosby trade was one of the more polarizing moves of the offseason, and the Hendrickson deal comes with obvious age and health questions. He’s 31 now and will turn 32 in 2026, and he’s coming off a season cut short by a hip and pelvis injury.
But the production is why the Ravens paid up. Hendrickson has been aging well, not fading.
He posted 17.5 sacks for the second straight year in his career-best season at age 30 and even picked up Defensive Player of the Year votes. Before the injury ended his 2025 campaign, he had four sacks in seven games and was tracking toward another strong year.
That kind of pass-rush talent doesn’t come cheap, especially when it’s the top free agent on the market. Baltimore knew the price, and it paid it anyway.
The move also fits a bigger need. The Ravens have gone nearly a decade without a true elite threat off the edge, and their attempts to get by with cheaper answers have helped in the regular season but hurt them when the playoffs arrive. Hendrickson is the kind of player they’ve been missing.
He won’t be doing it alone, either. Tavius Robinson and Zion Young give Baltimore some run-stopping help on the outside, which should take pressure off Hendrickson and help cover up his biggest weakness against the run.
So the Ravens are living with the risk. If Hendrickson’s durability becomes the issue critics expect, the deal will look heavy. If he keeps wrecking games off the edge, Baltimore will have landed exactly what it paid for.
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