Pass rush wins championships. That’s why the Rams, despite having one of the top young pass-rushers in the sport, traded him away and top draft picks to bring in superstar edge Myles Garrett. Pass rush is also why the Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl last year. They barraged Patriots quarterback Drake Maye to the tune of six sacks and a whopping 23 pressures.
Last year, with the Baltimore Ravens season on the line, they mustered only two sacks and 10 pressures on 52 Aaron Rodgers drop backs. With their season on the line, they couldn’t get pressure. Old man Rodgers was 2/10 when pressured, but 29/39 when kept clean. Their lack of pass-rush was a key component in sending them off to Cancun in each of the last two seasons. Baltimore mustered up only seven pressured including one sack in Buffalo as they fell to the Bills in the playoffs for the second time this decade.
Enter Trey Hendrickson. The Ravens signed the 31-year-old pass rusher to a franchise record four-year, $112m contract with $60m guaranteed. This is the biggest swing they’ve ever taken in free agency. Hendrickson is coming off his least productive season in years, which saw him skip most of the Cincinnati Bengals training camp as he held out for a trade or new contract. He played in only seven games last year due to injury. He didn’t play in the preseason. We can’t find a picture of him in a Ravens jersey on Getty Images to even post to this article.
On Sunday, when the Ravens open the 2026 season against the Indianapolis Colts, we will find out whether that investment was worthwhile. Hendrickson needs to look the part, fast. He racked up 35 sacks in the two years prior to his holdout saga with the Bengals, leading the league in 2024. What that’s close to what the Ravens get? They will make the postseason. They’ve lacked any true threat on the perimeter for several years now.
