Veteran Edge rushers the Las Vegas Raiders should consider

Raiders should go after Trey Hendrickson

The current EDGE rushers besides Crosby and Ferrell don’t exactly provide a feeling of optimism for Raider Nation. Takkarist McKinley and Vic Beasley, both of whom could be back for the Raiders, could see snaps next year. There’s also Arden Key, who famously said the team didn’t need pass-rushers, yeah, so much for that.

Trey Hendrickson of the New Orleans Saints is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent this offseason. If the Saints don’t bring him back, there’s your game-changing EDGE rusher.

A third-round pick from 2017, Hendrickson was a breakout star on defense for the Saints in 2020. He accumulated 13.5 sacks off of 556 defensive snaps, in addition to 12 tackles for a loss, and totaling 33 pressures. PFF graded Hendrickson’s pass rush at 78.0 for 2020, a jump from 62.8 in 2019.

Unfortunately, if the Saints don’t franchise tag him, Hendrickson will likely command serious money, which again is doable. Of course, this will largely depend on how the Raiders’ bran trust restructures the roster.

If Hendrickson is unavailable, there’s another route the Raiders could go. If dropping serious money on someone of Hendrickson’s caliber just isn’t feasible, the team could bring back a former Raider, and it wouldn’t cost nearly as much as Hendrickson.