King Henry has a new throne in the ‘Queen City’. Derrick Henry all but said his goodbyes to Tennessee Titans fans following the Week 18 season finale of the 2023 campaign, when he grabbed a mic and told the crowd in Nissan Stadium, “I just want to say thank you for the greatest eight years of my life.”
The farewell was epic.
Henry agreed to a two-year, $16 million contract with the Baltimore Ravens, according to NFL Network. The deal includes $9 million guaranteed and bonuses that could elevate the value to $20 million total.
The Ravens were the NFL’s top rushing offense last season, as Henry will join a backfield consisting of reigning MVP Lamar Jackson at quarterback. Former Ravens running back Gus Edwards agreed to terms with the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday, and J.K. Dobbins is no longer under contract. Keaton Mitchell is on the mend from a torn ACL that the undrafted rookie suffered in December.
Drafted in the second round (45th overall) in 2015, the year he won the Heisman Trophy at Alabama, Henry spent the first two seasons of his NFL career splitting reps in the Titans’ backfield with DeMarco Murray. By the ensuing year, however, he emerged as the team’s No. 1 option and one of the league’s dominant backs.
Embed from Getty ImagesHenry rushed for his first of five 1,000-yard campaigns in Tennessee and had a memorable 99-yard touchdown run, capped off by a signature Henry stiff-arm, against the Jacksonville Jaguars on “Thursday Night Football.”
In 2019, Henry paced the league in the rushing department for the first time (1,540 yards) and was tied for most rushing touchdowns (16) as the Titans advanced to the AFC championship game before falling to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The next season was historic for Henry, beyond the unbelievable workload of 378 carries he logged. He became just the eighth player in NFL history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season, and he averaged 126.7 yards per game on the ground total domination. Henry took home Offensive Player of the Year honors and also was named first-team All-Pro.
Then things took a bit of a dip. Henry missed more than half of the 2021 season, but still had 937 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns, due to a foot fracture. He still returned for Tennessee’s postseason game that year, a divisional-round loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
At 29, when most backs are slowing down, Henry put together another 1,500-yard campaign in 2022, and he was selected to his third Pro Bowl team. The Titans selected Tyjae Spears, a smaller (5-10, 200 pounds) running back from Tulane, in the third round of the 2023 draft, and Henry’s role lessened somewhat, despite the complementary nature of the backfield partnership. Still, he went to his fourth Pro Bowl in February.
Henry signed a four-year, $50 million deal with the Titans in 2020 and received a $2 million raise prior to the 2022 campaign.
