Chargers must act fast after stunning trade window opens at camp

The Los Angeles Chargers lost one of their most notable defensive players in NFL free agency in the spring when Joey Bosa bolted for the Buffalo Bills. Although the Chargers have players in place to get after the quarterback, their pass rush could absolutely use a boost off the edge, and a pretty shocking trade window might officially be opened up.

Everyone around the league has been monitoring the Cincinnati Bengals with great interest this offseason. From their decision to pay both Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to their conflict with first-round pick Shemar Stewart, the Bengals have been must-see TV. But nothing looms larger over their season than the situation with Defensive Player of the Year candidate Trey Hendrickson, whose contract situation just got worse.

As training camp is about to get started, Hendrickson is en route to Florida.

Chargers need to move quickly on Trey Hendrickson trade with Bengals

The Chargers, after winning 11 games last season, have every reason to try and kick the door in on the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West. The Chiefs were lucky to win as many games as they did last year, and the Chargers figure they'll only get better after struggling against better teams last season.

How do you change that dramatically? You go after a player like Trey Hendrickson. The pieces all over the roster are already in place for the Chargers at critical positions, so spending a late first-round pick on a player like Hendrickson would be a good use of assets by GM Joe Hortiz and head coach Jim Harbaugh.

The Chargers, just like a lot of teams around the NFL, have ample reason to make a compelling offer to the Bengals to get Hendrickson, who is still one of the premier pass rushers and game-changers in the NFL right now. With over $27 million in cap space, the Chargers could structure a deal to get the first-year cap hit down and pay Hendrickson what he's worth, something the Bengals apparently don't intend to do.

It would be shocking if the Bengals hadn't already been approached about trading Hendrickson this offseason, but they might actually be willing to entertain offers now that talks have seemingly broken down at training camp. Hendrickson is likely going to continue his holdout until there's a resolution, and with things this bad, would anyone be shocked if he was dealt?

So if he's going to potentially be traded, the Chargers need to have a seat at that table. They absolutely have the need off the edge after nobody on the team had 10 sacks last season (Tuli Tuipulotu led the team with 8.5) and nobody even reached 20 quarterback hits. You could argue that Hendrickson could be the missing piece of the equation for the Chargers at this point.

They need to be aggressive now that this window has seemingly opened up.