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.
Landing spot No. 2: Tennessee Titans trade Derrick Henry to the Chicago Bears
The Bears might think they are further along toward being a playoff contender than their roster might imply. They and the Panthers completed a huge trade last week that will have Carolina send the number 9 and 61 overall choices in the 2023 NFL draft along with a first-round pick in 2024, and a second-round choice in 2025, as well as receiver DJ Moore to the Bears for the first pick overall in this year’s draft. Sure, that’s a good haul for the Bears but at pick number 1 they could have taken defensive tackle Jalen Carter or edge rusher Will Anderson.
What Chicago truly needs, however, is a good running back that can help alleviate some of the pressure on quarterback Justin Fields. Chicago has a terrible offensive line and not-great receivers, but Derrick Henry can churn out yards even behind a mediocre line. Plus, for the Bears, if he is running the ball opponents will have to focus a bunch on Henry which should leave Chicago’s receivers in more one-on-one coverage.
The Bears definitely have the draft capital to offer the most enticing package for the Tennessee Titans. Pick number 9 overall from Chicago is way too much to ask for an aging running back, but Chicago has two second-round picks in 2023 so taking at least one of them should be expected. The Bears also have two fourth-round choices so one of those and a second-round pick should start a conversation.
If I were Tennessee Titans management and thinking of trading Henry to the Bears I would want as much as I can in this year’s draft. The Bears have plenty of picks (10 in total) while Tennessee only has six. While Tennessee doesn’t get a first-rounder in this trade, they do get three choices in the middle rounds where they should be able to get at least two potential starters.
Landing spot No. 3: Tennessee Titans trade Henry to the Carolina Panthers
Yes, I have the other team here involved in the Bears-Panthers trade for the number 1 pick in the 2023 draft. Both teams have reasons to make even more moves and both teams have reasons to make a trade for a running back as well.
The reasons for making a move to get Henry differ for each team, though. I also thought of having the Buffalo Bills on this list but the Tennessee Titans trading Henry to another AFC team is iffy, though I can conceivably see that happening more with Miami than Buffalo.
However, Carolina will have to be a team that runs the ball a lot in 2023. They will most likely take a quarterback with the first pick, of course, but that quarterback needs time to learn and adjust to the NFL. Having a great running back is only going to help the QB that the Panthers choose.
Carolina has a couple of items that might convince the Tennessee Titans to make a trade for Henry. One is that they could trade a second-round pick in 2023 plus a pick in 2024. But Tennessee needs more quality at linebacker and Tennessee could ask for Frankie Luvu in return as part of a trade package from Carolina. Luvu is only 26 years old and coming off his best season where he had 7 sacks and 19 tackles for loss in 2022.
The Tennessee Titans trading Derrick Henry would not be a fun thing but it might be necessary. Tennessee is in a bit of a transition and needs to make some moves now to make sure they aren’t terrible in three years. Henry likely won’t be traded as he is still very good, but he has a value that Tennessee could offer to other teams to help the Titans be better long-term.