Derrick Henry shows commitment to Tennessee Titans, signs franchise tag tender
By Will Lomas
Tennessee Titans and Derrick Henry are both working in good faith.
Tenessee Titans fans concerned about a potential Derrick Henry hold out can take a breath now after the NFL’s rushing leader in 2019 has signed his franchise tender.
While there could be complications down the road and Henry could decide that he doesn’t want to play under the tag, that seems very unlikely given everything we have seen the Titans do to this point.
After committing a lot of money and resources into making sure his offensive line is as talented as they can be and running an offense that fits his style of running (high volume of runs and play action) it seems like he is as important as anyone other than Ryan Tannehill.
The interesting thing is that Jon Robinson talked about his commitment to signing Henry to a long term deal and it sounded like the biggest issue between the Titans and Henry was time. Meaning, if they had missed the playoffs and had an extra month to discuss deals, maybe a long term deal could have been reached before the franchise tag deadline.
Those are champagne problems to have and I am optimistic that a long term deal could be done between both sides.
Titans’ RB Derrick Henry signed his $10.2 million franchise tender today, per @diannaESPN and me. Two sides are still committed to working for a long-term extension before July 15.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 2, 2020
Now, the question shifts from if Derrick Henry will play in Tennessee past 2020 to what is the length of Derrick Henry’s next contract and what is going to cost the Tennessee Titans?
Based on how this front office has structured contracts in the past, I would expect a deal for four years with the last two years entirely voidable or nearly entirely avoidable.
This is important to keep an eye on in the short term as well.
The Tennessee Titans have openly been in contact with three people for a contract: Jadeveon Clowney, Logan Ryan and Derrick Henry.
If (by some miracle) all three of those end up on the Titans roster with new contracts, that would drastically change what Tennessee does on draft day.
In three weeks the Titans could go from desperately searching for EDGEs, CBs and depth at RB to a team set up to take BPA and add future draft picks. So, don’t underestimate what a new deal could do for Tennessee.