The Titans have already traded away The Mayor; could King Henry be next?
Tennessee’s new general manager Ran Carthon appears to be embracing a rebuild after a 2-4 start to the season. It’s a sensible approach, as the Titans are three games back of the Jaguars in the AFC South and aren’t likely to make up ground while Ryan Tannehill deals with an ankle injury.
So, the Titans need to evaluate what they have in backup quarterbacks Malik Willis and Will Levis to see if either is capable of being the team’s long-term starter. They are evidently also willing to jettison veterans, as they proved when they traded safety Kevin Byard to the Eagles.
As such, Derrick Henry could find himself on the trading block. The long-time Titan is set to be a free agent after the season and given that he turns 30 in January, some may question whether his timeline for contention will fit that of the Titans.
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Henry remains one of the NFL’s best running backs in his age-29 season, having totaled 425 yards and three touchdowns on 98 carries despite playing behind a shaky offensive line while facing loaded boxes. If he goes to a team with a more threatening passing attack, he could show flashes of his 2,000-yard season in a workhorse role.
There should be plenty of interest in Henry because of this, but who are the top teams that could try to land him? The Sporting News breaks down which teams are the most likely landing spots for the Titans running back.
Dallas Cowboys
Tony Pollard was expected to take over the Cowboys backfield after Ezekiel Elliott’s offseason release. Pollard has received the bulk of the workload, but the results have been average at best. He is averaging 3.9 yards per carry and has just one game with over 100 rushing yards as a part of a Dallas offense that has the seventh-worst red-zone touchdown percentage in the NFL.
Henry would give Dallas a great, powerful complement to Pollard and would provide a serious boost to the team’s scoring capabilities (Pollard has just two touchdowns on 29 red-zone carries). His presence would also allow Pollard to have fresher legs and make better use of his explosiveness as a playmaker.
While Henry looks like a great fit for the Cowboys, fans may want to temper their expectations. Why? The team’s owner and general manager Jerry Jones indicated that he doesn’t believe that Dallas needs to upgrade its roster significantly to be a Super Bowl contender.
“It’ll have to come our way,” Jones said on 105.7 The Fan Tuesday. “The initiation of an opportunity to make a trade at this time that would help us principally has to start on the other end.
“That’s not showing a lack of aggressiveness. It’s just that’s where it starts. I like where we are with our personnel today. So I’m not thinking in any way that we need to upgrade our roster.”
But perhaps having an opportunity to land Henry will change his mind.
Buffalo Bills
If the Cowboys don’t want Henry, the Bills could pounce on him. James Cook has averaged a more-than-respectable 4.8 yards per carry, but he has just one touchdown on 12 red-zone carries. Comparatively, Henry has two on 13 and would serve as a better goal-line hammer than the Georgia product.
Henry and Cook complement one another well. Henry is built to be a between-the-tackles workhorse while Cook has been a strong pass catcher during his season and a half in the NFL. The Bills have been using Latavius Murray in the former role, so Henry would surely be an upgrade.
Having Henry would also take more pressure off Josh Allen. He has been counted on to produce a large chunk of Buffalo’s offense while serving as the team’s primary goal-line runner. Having Henry will allow the quarterback to avoid being used in that role which would further help him to avoid injury.
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Baltimore Ravens
Speaking of injuries, the Ravens have had many at the running back position in recent years. J.K. Dobbins once again went down with a torn ACL in Week 1, so Baltimore has had to scramble and use Gus Edwards, Justice Hill, Melvin Gordon and others at the running back position.
Henry would put a stop to the carousel and would give Lamar Jackson the first true workhorse counterpart of his NFL career. Henry’s power and Jackson’s elusiveness as a runner would make for a lethal combination even though Todd Monken’s offense is less run-happy than that of Greg Roman.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Could the Buccaneers trade for Henry? It’s possible. The team is within striking distance of the Falcons in the NFC South despite having no run game of which to speak. Henry would naturally be a massive upgrade in Tampa Bay and would likely have success even running behind a young but improving offensive line.
The only reason Tampa Bay would pass outright on a Henry trade is if it doesn’t believe it’s a contender. But after a rocky first year as the team’s head coach, Todd Bowles may be looking to prove that he’s capable of leading a team to the postseason consistently, even without Brady. The best way to do that would be to trust the team’s defense and play ball control on offense. It’s hard to do that without a running game.
Los Angeles Rams
The Rams entered the 2023 NFL season with Cam Akers, Kyren Williams and Ronnie Rivers as their top running backs. Akers has been traded while both Williams and Rivers are hurt; that has led them to utilize Royce Freeman, Darrell Henderson and Zach Evans at the position in recent weeks.
While Williams has shown signs that he can be a lead back, the Rams could go into full “F— them picks!” mode and get Henry to upgrade the team’s 15th-ranked rushing offense. That could go a long way toward making Los Angeles a wild-card contender despite playing in a tough division.
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Cincinnati Bengals
Joe Mixon continues to be a pedestrian starting running back for the Bengals. He is averaging 3.8 yards per carry this season and has yet to top 81 rushing yards in any game. The offensive line may be partly to blame for that lack of success, but Mixon has averaged fewer than 4.0 yards per carry in three of the last four seasons.
If Cincinnati wants some new blood at running back, Henry would fit the bill. He trampled them for a season-best 122 yards and a touchdown in Week 4, so the Bengals may want to give Joe Burrow a back capable of that type of production.
Cleveland Browns
The Browns may not seem like an obvious fit for a running back, but considering that Nick Chubb is out for the season and Jerome Ford is dealing with a high-ankle sprain, Cleveland could consider adding help at the position. The team’s only other alternative would be to trust Kareem Hunt and Pierre Strong as long as Ford is sidelined.
Henry is a free agent after the season so the Browns could theoretically acquire him and later move on if they believe Chubb can come back healthy enough to start again. They also could sign him in the hopes of extending the career of each back as they age.
Perhaps this isn’t likely, but Cleveland needs all the help it can get with Deshaun Watson reeling. Adding HEnry could be an unconventional way to do it if the price is right.
Philadelphia Eagles
You should never count Howie Roseman out of any possible trade in the NFL and while the Eagles don’t need a running back, adding Derrick Henry would improve an already stellar offense. The team has a great offensive line and Henry’s physical, downhill running style would pair well with the shifter and more explosive D’Andre Swift to make one of the NFL’s best running back tandems.
The Eagles also have a history of making deals with the Titans, having just traded for Kevin Byard and acquiring A.J. Brown from Tennessee during the 2022 NFL Draft. That relationship could help Roseman get a deal over the finish line if he is looking for a backfield upgrade over Kenneth Gainwell.