3 potential landing spots for Tennessee Titans star Derrick Henry
By Lee Vowell
Trade partners for the Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans have reportedly been open to having talks about trading running back Derrick Henry.
Tennessee appears to be in the process of doing a bit of a rebuild this offseason already and has released – or will release – several veterans. Still, trading Henry would definitely be the biggest move at all.
Contrary to the gut reactions of several Tennessee Titans fans, moving Henry also might not be a dumb move. Running backs in the NFL, even ones as great as Henry, have a short shelf-life than most players.
Henry is bigger and faster than most mortals, but he has also run the ball 303 times or more in three of the past four seasons (and he was injured during the other season). All those hits take a toll on a body.
Trading Henry now makes sense. He could leave after 2023 anyway, sign elsewhere and the Tennessee Titans would have nothing in return (unless Henry is franchise-tagged before the 2024 season which doesn’t seem overly smart).
But Henry is still very good and could bring back some nice draft capital from a running back-needy team. Here are three teams that might want Henry.
Landing spot No.1: Tennessee Titans trade Derrick Henry to the Miami Dolphins
Some have mentioned the Dolphins as the most probable place to trade Henry.
Miami has a good offense that could be great with the addition of a running back as great as Henry. If Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (who is an Alabama alumnus like Henry) could stay healthy, he has the arm talent to beat teams throwing to his excellent receivers.
Adding Henry to a skill group loaded with talent should mean more time for Tua to throw and more space for which receivers to get open.
The issue here if you are a Tennessee Titans fan is that all the things in the above paragraph are really good for Miami but what could be in it for Tennessee? Miami found a way to forfeit their first-round pick in 2023 and a third-round choice in 2024 by breaking league rules. The Dolphins don’t have much draft capital to offer the Tennessee Titans, especially after a trade that brought Jalen Ramsey to them (though Miami only gave up a third-round choice).
Still, the trade for Ramsey only proves that the Dolphins want to win and win now and Henry can help them with that.
Miami also doesn’t seem likely to trade a veteran player from their roster that the Titans actually need. That said, this trade could still happen to depend on if Tennessee really wants to get rid of Henry because the team thinks it needs to rebuild for 2024 and beyond. Dolphins fans would like this move, but Titans fans probably won’t.