Derrick Henry has emerged as, at least, a fringe candidate to be traded before Tuesday’s deadline. The greatest running back of the Oilers-Titans franchise’s Tennessee years is in the final year of his contract, and with the Titans dealing away Kevin Byard, rumors have emerged about other marquee players exiting.
The latest round of Henry buzz connects the Ravens and Cowboys to the two-time rushing champion. Baltimore is viewed around the league as an interested party, per Sportskeeda’s Tony Pauline, who adds the Ravens are on track to explore trades for running backs.
Jerry Jones has made some interesting proclamations at his recent availability sessions, indicating the Cowboys are not planning to reach out to teams about trades. Thursday, the Dallas owner doubled down on this stance. The Cowboys are 4-2 and rank in the top five on offense and defense, though given the firepower at the top of the NFC, the team would obviously be taking a risk by standing pat.
“I don’t see anything heated up to a level that would cause something to happen,” Jones said, via the Dallas Morning News’ Michael Gehlken. “… If we don’t do anything at this trade deadline, we’ve got a team, in my mind, that can get us where we want to go.”
The Cowboys cut Ezekiel Elliott and have bumped Tony Pollard into a full-time role, but Pauline adds the Cowboys are expected to look into Henry. A caveat here: the NFC East team would want the Titans to eat some of Henry’s salary. This component came up Wednesday regarding Henry, whose walk-year salary is $10.5MM. An acquiring team would only be on the hook for barely $5.5MM if it landed Henry after Week 8, which would be the expectation if the eighth-year standout is traded. Considering how the RB trade market unfolded this offseason, that $5.5MM number is seen as too rich for a team to take on. The Ravens would likely require this as well, holding just more than $6MM in cap space. The Cowboys are at $7.7MM.
It is interesting to see Henry pop up as a trade option, seeing as Austin Ekeler was not believed to have generated much of a market after requesting a trade this offseason. The Colts also did not see their Jonathan Taylor asking price met, though Indianapolis also did not appear motivated to seek out a trade partner. The dual-threat Charger led the NFL in touchdowns in 2021 and ’22, while Henry’s throwback skillset does not include much of a passing-down role.
Henry, 29, is averaging 4.3 yards per carry (425 total), despite a shaky Titans offensive line — one Pro Football Focus ranks last presently — and Next Gen Stats’ rushing yards over expected metric measures the former Heisman winner’s total seventh. While Henry is likely near the end of his run as a full-time starter, he would be an interesting trade chip. The Ravens rank eighth in yards per carry; the Cowboys sit 21st.
The Ravens have been the NFL’s most run-oriented team during Lamar Jackson‘s career. Baltimore’s 230 rushing attempts trail only the Eagles (235) this season. The Ravens lost J.K. Dobbins to another season-ending injury and have been rolling with Gus Edwards and Justice Hill as their primary ball carriers. Speedy rookie Keaton Mitchell came off IR recently but has not factored into the Ravens’ run game much yet. Ravens officials have downplayed the team’s need for a starter-caliber back, The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec notes (subscription required), but Henry would not be Maryland-bound to become a backup.
It is not yet clear if the Titans are truly motivated to move Henry, nor is it locked in the team would recoup a needle-moving asset for a veteran with 1,848 career carries. A weekend report classified Henry interest as scarce. But Tennessee rosters intriguing rookie Tyjae Spears positioned as the former All-Pro’s successor. The third-round pick is averaging 5.5 yards per tote and has carved out a bigger role than any of Henry’s backups since the bulldozing starter began his back-to-back run of rushing titles.
Henry trade buzz circulated this offseason, however, and the Titans may be in transition soon. Contract-year QB Ryan Tannehill is not expected to play this week, which would lead to Will Levis‘ first start. Will it double as Henry’s last game with the Titans?
They should really just take anything they can get for Henry at this point, unless it’s a bag of chips and he doesn’t want to play for another team. Could probably get him back in FA anyway if they wanted, with a good RB class and the state of the RB market.
I have Spears in fantasy, so hoping this happens
There’s already blowback here in Nashville over the Byard trade looking like waving a white flag. Unless it’s an absurd return, they’d be dumb to trade him now. He’s a fan favorite and after the AJ Brown debacle, it’d be a very bad look.
even worse would be giving him an older RB an extension
rondon Is it not time for the Titans to waive a white flag and rebuild?
Rocket32… I hear ya. It’s turning into a lost year for sure. But trading the one player everybody around here loves for a minimal return would be a mistake. And he just won’t bring back enough in return to even say it’s contributing to a ‘rebuild’. They have a ton of cap space next season and I’m guessing that’s when they’ll hit the gas.
I still think he’s a beast. Not a Cowboy’s fan, but he could really be a big help to them.
Henry needs to be committee at this point. Too much tread on the tires to be hammering 40 carries/game. With Pollard there that would be a great one-two punch.
I would think the Bengals have an even greater need than the Ravens. They rank next to last in rushing with Mixon, a player they have indicated publicly, they aren’t particularly committed to. The only reason they didn’t let Joe walk was because they had zero RB depth they could depend on.
Man with the ravens or cardinals scheme he’d be a maniac
And I would be a very, very happy fantasy owner.
Lol
Could say the Eagles too.
Eagles got swift and hurts and gainwell I doubt they need him
Swift, Gainwell, and Scott are all nice but Henry is a different kind of man. Hurts looks a touch slower too or more hesitant to run. If they lose him Mariota is not pulling a Foles.
Meh
Baltimore is a real dark horse team in the AFC. They have a very good D, and a healthy Lamar throwing the ball better. Add Henry and they will be hard to stop. Last year they were a bad goal line play away from beating Cincinatti in the playoffs with their backup QB.
Seeing as how Henry has “single-handedly” knocked the Ravens out of the playoffs multiple times. If ya can’t beat ‘em, buy ‘em!
They could use Autry too. Go All In !
Uhm…they have beaten the Titans multiple times since that game.
Kind of a dumb saying when it doesn’t apply.
Also…they’ve(Ravens/Titans) only played once in the playoffs in Henry’s tenure.
Ravens would be AFC favorites right now if they made that move. Cowboys maybe don’t get as big a bump. If I’m Henry I’d want Baltimore