The Baltimore Ravens spent a lucrative chunk of money this offseason. They made nine signings in free agency, handing out three multi-year deals and $96.75 million in guaranteed money. It was a bit uncharacteristic, but the aggressiveness was desperately needed.
Those past several months were headlined by their blockbuster signing of Trey Hendrickson. If there’s one spot that Baltimore needed to drop a ton of money on, it was pass rusher, and now they have an elite sack artist in Hendrickson. He'll certainly help the defense level up.
Hendrickson does have his doubters, though. Numerous news outlets have questioned if the move will be worth it.
Most recently, the 31-year-old didn’t appear on the top-10 pass rusher list crafted by NFL executives, coaches, and scouts. And although he found himself in the honorable mentions section, he was even slighted by a personnel member there.
“‘[Hendrickson's] been a great performer but doesn't have the dominant traits as some of the others, so when age and injuries pile up, it's harder for him to stay toward the top.’”
Baltimore Ravens’ Trey Hendrickson fails to make top-10 pass rusher list
Does Trey Hendrickson lack the dominant traits of some of the others? Maybe you could say that, but that really hasn't mattered. Hendrickson’s been one of the league’s best pure pass rushers over the last few seasons. That much is undeniable.
Hendrickson has totaled 74.5 sacks since 2020. That’s the third-best mark in the NFL among pass rushers, only behind Myles Garrett and T.J. Watt, who rank first and seventh on this list, respectively. If that’s seriously not enough to make the top-10, then that’s pretty shocking.
Now obviously injuries are a fair question to be concerned about in 2026. He’s returning from a hip and pelvis injury that cut his season short last year. However, outside of 2025, you can usually trust him to stay on the field, and even then, a number of players ahead of him on the list have had more than their fair share of injuries.
The aforementioned Watt has been banged up by injuries year after year, and he’s entering his age-31 season. Nick Bosa at No. 8 is no better, as he is coming off the second torn ACL of his career and will be turning 29 in 2026. Obviously, different evaluators have different reasons for their rankings, but the idea of potential injuries deflating Hendrickson’s value is nonsense, seeing that some of the league’s best edge rushers are going through the same thing.
Regardless, Hendrickson will be given every opportunity to prove people wrong this year. He’s Baltimore’s top pass rusher, so the production will be there. Along with that, he’ll get to play alongside some very talented outside linebackers and interior defensive linemen, which should give him some favorable matchups. Simply put, the stage will be his to get back to dominance.
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