Tennessee Titans and Derrick Henry agree to a deal.
In a shocking development, the Tennessee Titans and Derrick Henry were actually able to get a long term deal done before the deadline.
Let’s start with the man who broke the news, because when Adam Schefter reports something, you would do well to listen…and when he reports something different the next day you should definitely listen.
Here are the two tweets in question:
Titans and Derrick Henry are not expected to reach a long-term deal by Wednesday deadline for franchise players, per source. Henry is scheduled to make $10.27M this season and become a free agent in off-season.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 14, 2020
Any franchise deals by Wednesday will be an exception, not the rule.
Then just 33 hours later, Titans fans saw this:
Titans and RB Derrick Henry now working to finalize a deal before today’s 4 pm ET deadline, per sources. Deal on way to being done.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 15, 2020
This is great news for Titans fans. On one hand, paying running backs is generally such a bad idea for a team, and you would be hard-pressed to find a handful of examples to defend the idea over the last five years.
On the other hand, Titans finally have a true star in Derrick Henry and it is the first time that the Titans have had a focal point for attention AND been successful at the same time since Steve McNair.
Ryan Tannehill, Derrick Henry, Taylor Lewan, and Kevin Byard are all locked in on big deals now and young players like Harold Landry, Rashaan Evans, Jeffery Simmons, and A.J. Brown are cheap stars who help afford the Titans a chance to pay Henry.
When it was all said and done, Henry got $50 million over 4 years right before the deadline.
Titans and RB Derrick Henry is signing a four-year, $50 million contract that includes $25.5 million guaranteed, source tells ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 15, 2020
In one off-season, the Titans keep both Henry and Ryan Tannehill on long-term deals.