According Brad Stainbrook from 247 SportsNot only have the Baltimore Ravens and running back Derrick Henry been in contact during the NFL's legal tampering period, but the team has offered the four-time Pro Bowler a multi-year contract averaging $6.5 million.
Fountain: #Crows The current offer to free agent running back Derrick Henry is in the range of $6.5 million per year.
—Brad Stainbrook (@StainbrookNFL) March 12, 2024
There were several notable riders who agreed to terms in principle with new teams on the first day of the legal tampering period. Henry is the most successful, as a former first-team All-Pro, 2020 Offensive Player of the Year, four-time Pro Bowler and two-time NFL rushing champion.
While the rumored offer that the Ravens have on the table for the former Tennessee TitansThe legendary bell cow costs almost less than half the average annual salary of $12.3 that Saquon Barkley agreed to with the Philadelphia Eagles and the 12 million dollars that Josh Jacobs will obtain annually with the Green Bay Packers, the considerable disparity is understandable. Given Henry's age at 30 and the tremendous amount of wear and tear with 2,030 career carries in the regular season alone, that's more in line with what a player at this point in his career would fetch on the open market.
Although, if there's one active running back capable of avoiding the inevitable cliff that all players at the position tend to fall to after nearly a decade in the league, it's Henry. He has been the model of consistency in terms of durability and production, having appeared in at least 15 games, rushing for over 1,000 yards and scoring double-digit touchdowns in five of the last six seasons. In the one year in which he failed to reach just half of those totals, he still rushed for 937 yards and 10 touchdowns in just eight regular-season games in 2021, when he suffered a foot injury that sidelined him. until the playoffs.
In 2023, Henry finished first in the league in carries (280), second in rushing yards (1,167) and tied for fifth most rushing touchdowns (12). He can still be very productive until proven otherwise and would be a bargain at Stainbrook's rumored average annual salary.
