Justin Jefferson And Trey Hendrickson Trade Proposal Ties Bengals and Browns Into Wild Four-Team Deal originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

In the wake of the NBA recently making headlines with a Kevin Durant-centric seven-team trade, some NFL watchers want to get cute.

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And so we have a four-team trade proposal that involves Cincinnati giving up two stars for one … though one of them happens to be Justin Jefferson.

Should we take this even a little bit seriously, even for a moment?

Sure. Briefly.

It’s CBS Sports that suggests a four-team trade between the Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Browns.

Who gets what?

The Bengals get receiver Justin Jefferson (Vikings) and defensive end Julian Okwara (Browns).

The Vikings get receiver Tee Higgins (Bengals), cornerback Greg Newsome II (Browns), a 2026 first-round pick (Bengals) and a 2026 third-round pick (Lions).

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The Lions get Trey Hendrickson (Bengals).

The Browns get a 2026 fourth-round pick (Lions).

So …

The Browns get tangled up in this mess and essentially get nothing, so why bother?

The Lions get Hendrickson and only give up a third-rounder? Where do they sign up?

The Vikings replace Jefferson with Higgins and a first-round pick. They get worse.

And the Bengals lose Hendrickson and Higgins but get Jefferson. The Bengals are pairing Jefferson with Ja’Marr Chase? Yes, that’d be an upgrade … but the defense would suffer without Hendrickson.

CBS admits that this is “outlandish,” so we suppose it’s okay to lean into the fun of it all. However, the trade ignores the money issues, it doesn’t make the Bengals or the Browns better, and … then, regarding multi-team trades, there are salary-matching reasons in the NBA that fuel them.

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The NFL doesn’t have that.

So … if the Bengals want to trade Hendrickson, why do they need three other teams? And if the Browns want to move Newsome, why do they need three other teams?

Related: Browns’ Next QB Move Could Change Shedeur Sanders’ Path in Cleveland

Related: Bengals ‘Low-Balling’ Trey Hendrickson at $28 Million as Trade Rumors Swirl

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 8, 2025, where it first appeared.