The Titans letting Derrick Henry play on the franchise tag and giving him upwards of 300 touches before reassessing his value down the line would an interesting approach. Three teams reached tag-and-trade agreements last year. But the Titans want to sign the reigning rushing champion to an extension.
Jon Robinson met with Henry before the Titans used their franchise tag on him and has spoken with the four-year veteran since applying the tender, the Tennessee GM said Wednesday. Henry said, per Robinson, he wants to stay in Tennessee long-term.
While Robinson added that he wants to revisit talks before training camp, he has no choice. The Titans have until July 15 to reach an extension agreement with Henry. The 26-year-old back is currently attached to a $10.3MM franchise tender, though he has yet to sign it. If no deal is reached by then, Henry will count $10.3MM on the Titans’ 2020 payroll.
These will be interesting negotiations, given what has happened to the top tier of the running back market since Todd Gurley raised the salary bar. Gurley and David Johnson are on different teams, and Le’Veon Bell is coming off a disappointing Jets debut season. Ezekiel Elliott still leads the running back pack, at $15MM AAV, and made the Pro Bowl last season. But the Cowboys’ deal is the outlier presently.
Despite Elliott and Henry coming into the league in the 2016 draft, the former has a whopping 1,358 career touches. Henry, who split time with DeMarco Murray during his first two seasons, has accumulated only 861. Henry’s workload figures to factor into his negotiations with the Titans, who reached a long-term agreement with Ryan Tannehill and kept their bruising back off the market via the tag. As does his place on a run-heavy Titans team. A tag-and-trade scenario might not benefit the Titans, with Henry likely being more valuable in their offense than he would be elsewhere. Counting Henry’s tag price, the Titans hold just more than $23MM in cap space.
don’t do it don’t you dare mike
Just let the year play out. Don’t pay for past production at rb
13.5 mil would be a fair number for Henry after the year he just had.
It would put him behind Gurleys last deal, and behind Zeke but on top of Bell, and every other RB.
Let McCaffery and Barkley decide the market for RB in a couple years and then get yourself a deal based on those two and two more years of work.
So I’d give him 13.5 mil guaranteed for 2 years, after this current tagged amount of 10.3.
I like him on a two year deal. Don’t think you can give him much more than that with how short of careers RBs typically have. Especially lately. That falloff often comes quick.
I wish fans would stop with the nonsense that RBs are only sparklers than burn for a minute or two. Frank Gore, Adrian Peterson and Shady have proven that longevity is attainable playing the position.
So 3 guys make up for the 10s of guys who retire in their mid 20s every year. Brady and brees playing at 42 doesn’t make it common. Rbs get ran into the ground foster Murray Johnson gurley Charles there’s countless guys who were studs at 24 and done at 28
Yeah at 26 now a 2 years extension means Henry gets security and paid as a top 3 RB for the next few years and then in 3 years time if he continues to play at that high level he can have another solid pay day at 29 which you’d think would be his last big deal.
It allows Henry to maximise his worth
I don’t think Henry will get a solid pay day again at 29 I think he’ll be close to retirement and washed up. Mccafrey is no doubt carrying the panthers but what exactly is he carrying them to another season without the playoffs. I don’t see any rb breaking the mold and actually being worth close to a qb
He might not get another big pay day but as a player you’d sign a 2 year extension at 26 on top of your current 1 year deal so you hit FA at 29 with atleast a good chance of getting a good pay day again. Not point signing a deal till your 30 cause them will be hesitant to give you a good deal
In 2 years McCaffery will end up with a contract near 18-20 million a year for carrying the Panthers, I wouldn’t wait. With the league making more money because of the new tv deal and the raise of the salary cap even Mahomes with be making at least 40 million a year.
Agree
Hey they could run him into the ground like Herm Edwards did with Larry Johnson in KC. Career over. Get your $$$ now.
The Titans have had almost no footprint on social media sites for quite a while. Every franchise needs a face the public can identify with and Henry is a good choice for Tennessee.