Three Derrick Henry Free Agency Destinations

Derrick Henry | Wesley Hitt/GettyImages

This year’s crop of free agent running backs is loaded with familiar names. Saquon Barkley, Austin Ekeler, Tony Pollard, Josh Jacobs, and Ezekiel Elliott will likely all be available once free agency opens on March 11. But the biggest name (and certainly the biggest body) is Derrick Henry. The multi-time NFL rushing champ seems set to leave the Tennessee Titans as a new regime takes over and wear a new uniform for the first time in his career. There should be plenty of interest.

Perhaps not as much as you’d think, though. Henry has long been the exception to the NFL’s general rules about running back value, but he’s no longer at the peak of his powers. The All-Pro running back led the league in carries for the second straight year but managed only 1,167 yards (nearly 400 fewer yards than in 2022) and his 68.6 rushing yards per game was the lowest mark he’s posted since 2018. It’s clear the 30-year-old is on the back nine of his career– but it’s easy to envision him still making a significant impact on the run game when he isn’t asked to carry the offense entirely upon his shoulders.

It’s likely Henry ends up with a fairly lucrative (but nothing crazy) short-term deal. That means nearly every team in the league could be in the running for his services because it doesn’t take a lot of work to move enough money around to make that deal happen.

With all that in mind here are a few possible destinations for Henry once free agency opens in a few weeks.

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens were linked to Henry at the trade deadline but didn’t end up making a move and went to the AFC Championship Game, where their refusal to run the ball helped lead to their defeat at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs. Baltimore had an excellent season in 2023 and still couldn’t get over the Patrick Mahomes hump despite holding his offense 17 points total and zero in the second half. They do not need reinforcements on offense but it certainly cannot hurt, and Henry definitely qualifies.

This possibility is made more likely by the fact that Baltimore’s two starting running backs at the start of the year, Gus Edwards and JK Dobbins, are both hitting free agency. Everyone loves the Gus Bus but Henry would represent a significant upgrade over both those players, even at a higher price point. Lamar Jackson and Henry in the same backfield is a thing of nightmares for defenses. He makes a lot of sense and his presence on the field gives the Ravens more options than they’ve ever had with Jackson at the helm.

New York Jets

This is definitely not something the Jets should do. But is it something they would do? Absolutely. The team’s biggest need by far is on the offensive line so they can protect Aaron Rodgers coming off a torn Achilles, but you could see somebody talking the New York front office into acquiring Henry for basically the same thing. A strong run game means less of a burden on Rodgers’ shoulders and Henry is the kind of talent that can still produce behind a subpar line. Right?

Well, maybe. Tennessee’s offensive line was a catastrophe last year, part of the reason Henry ended up with his lowest numbers in years across the board. He isn’t the one-man band he was back in the day. But pairing him with Breece Hall would give the Jets the best RB room in the league, which does not mean what it used to. But the Jets are prone to making splashy moves over smart moves so they need to be considered.

Houston Texans

The Texans enjoyed great production out of Devin Singletary last year but he’s a free agent and may be looking for a payday after making only $1.5 million last season. Houston, on the other hand, might recognize that this is more a lightning in a bottle thing rather than an out-of-nowhere superstar situation. Moving on could be the best move for both sides, in which case the Texans should be very interested in taking advantage of all the cap space they have as a result of CJ Stroud being on a rookie deal.

Houston’s only objective this offseason should be to make Stroud’s life as easy as possible. Signing Henry definitely does that. Introducing his threat to the offense makes their play-action game much more dangerous and really would transform the offense. The added benefit of stealing a star from a divisional rival can’t hurt, either. This would be a fun place for Henry to end up as he joins a budding star quarterback while his own high-profile career winds down.