ESPN reporter names Cowboys, Colts and Bucs as possible suitors for $50 million free agent

The Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will all be in the market for help along the edge this offseason.

The Cowboys haven't replaced the production lost in the Micah Parsons trade and the team posted just 35 sacks last season. Improving the pass-rush and defense overall is a big point of emphasis for Dallas this offseason.

The Bucs finished with two more sacks than the Cowboys, but the production off the edge was not good enough and now Haason Reddick is a pending free agent.

Indianapolis posted two more sacks than the Bucs and have three edge rushers set to hit free agency in Samson Ebukam, Tyquan Lewis and Kwity Paye.

Knowing all that, it comes as no surprise that ESPN's Jeremy Fowler named those three teams as possible suitors for Cincinnati Bengals defensive end and pending free agent, Trey Hendrickson, who is projected by Spotrac to receive a two-year, $50.8 million deal in free agency.

The Bengals are always good for a few surprises, but a franchise tag for defensive end Trey Hendrickson would be a mild surprise to me. The relationship has essentially run its course, and the tag will be well above $30 million. Perhaps they could swing a sign-and-trade, but losing him to free agency could equate to a third-round compensatory pick in return if Cincinnati plays it right. The top free agent rusher will have plenty of suitors. Several teams in need of a pass rusher should look into him, including the Cowboys, Buccaneers and Colts.

Fowler clears up one potential roadblock to Hendrickson hitting free agency.

The belief has been that the Bengals could slap the franchise tag on Hendrickson and then trade him, but clearly Fowler doesn't think that scenario is likely.

That's huge news for any of Hendrickson's suitors, as that route would have forced them to trade draft capital before signing the four-time Pro Bowler to a sizeable contract extension.

We know the Cowboys reportedly had interest in Hendrickson at last year's trade deadline, so it's logical to consider them a possible suitor.

Hendrickson has a strong connection to the Colts through his former defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, who has the same job in Indy.

The Buccaneers have a fairly positive cap space situation, with the team projected to have $23.8 million to work with, the second-most of the three teams listed by Fowler as potential Hendrickson suitors.

If Hendrickson hits the open market, there are going to be a ton of teams vying for his services. We would expect the Cowboys, Buccaneers and Colts to be among them.

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