Derrick Henry will head into free agency this offseason after dominating the his competition on the NFL level in 2019. Henry, alongside quarterback Ryan Tannehill, helped the often overlooked Tennessee Titans get to the AFC Championship.
The career year for former Alabama running back consisted of 1,540 yards on the ground off of 303 carries to go along with a whopping 16 rushing touchdowns.
One would expect that after Henry’s impressive 2019 season, he’d be due for a massive pay day, but Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports argues that Tennessee should stay far away from handing Henry a large, new contract.
“Now is not the time to pay Derrick Henry. And, more to the point, there might not ever be the right time to pay him. Especially nowhere close to the degree he is seeking compensation. Frankly, if I were them I wouldn’t even really truly consider it, privately, though I’d never say or do anything to disrespect the player in the process. Henry is everything you could possibly want off the field, as good a young man as you will find. And on the field, he is a beast. He is a monster. I love the way he runs… But he is still a running back, and that is the problem.”
Henry is considered to be one of the top players to hit free agency in the 2020 offseason, and he has expressed his interest in staying with the team that drafted him in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
This year’s draft is quickly approaching, and if Henry decides to sign elsewhere, or if the Titans do not want to offer him a new contract, they may decide to spend their first round draft pick (No. 29 overall) on a new lead back.
That could prove to be costly decision, however.
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