The Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears may have reignited their rivalry in 2024. While the two teams split the season series, Chicago was one blocked field goal away from sweeping Green Bay. Vice versa, Green Bay sat nearly all of their starters for their week 18 matchup at Lambeau Field.
Going into 2025, Green Bay is coming off back to back playoff appearances while Chicago got their (hopeful) head coach of the future.
Now the two teams may be in an arms race for the same AFC playmaker.
Report: Packers And Bears Heavily Linked To Same AFC Star (Trade Report)
Packers aren’t far from contending for a championship in a league that’s brutally competitive. 2024 proved that although there were many good players on their roster, there were not enough great ones:
On Thursday, Richard Louis of FanSided noted that Cincinnati Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson had been rumored in trade talks in the past and strongly urged the Packers to explore all avenues for acquiring him.
“Green Bay badly needs a game wrecker off the edge and the 30-year-old (Hendrickson) would be a phenomenal addition,” Louis wrote.
“He asked for a trade last year and it wasn’t granted. He will likely do it again if the Bengals don’t pony up the money he’s asking for and the Packers would be wise to jump into those trade talks to bring Hendrickson to Titletown.”
The Chicago Bears Are Linked To The Same Playmaker
The Chicago Bears are a prime candidate to land Hendrickson, assuming they’re willing to pay up. They have plenty of salary-cap space to give him the contract he wants, and they have the 2025 NFL Draft capital to swing a deal that would make the Bengals happy.
Cincinnati would happily accept an offer of two second-round picks for Hendrickson; the Bears have two picks in the second round. In fact, I don’t think it would even cost that much. If Poles offered a second and fourth-rounder? A deal could get done.
Sweat and Hendrickson pinning their ears back and getting after opposing quarterbacks would be a sight to behold for Chicago Bears fans. And it’s a very real possibility, if the Bears want it to be.
It will be interesting to see if Cincinnati decides to move on from the veteran pass rusher. If they do, the two longest lasting rivals in the NFL could be in the middle of a bidding war. Here is how Hendrickson’s career has panned out:
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