It is my personal opinion that the Tennessee Titans should avoid trading star running back Derrick Henry at all costs.

Henry is a franchise icon, one of the most dominant running backs of all time, and most importantly, still incredibly productive. Even with one of the NFL's worst offensive lines in front of him for a season in which his starting quarterback was injured, Henry posted 1,538 rushing yards, a career high 398 receiving yards, and 13 touchdowns.

Undeniably, Henry is a workhorse that is always a threat to break a long touchdown run. Even at his worst, he poses a threat to other teams and commands majority of the defensive attention. So imagine how valuable he would be and the damage he could do if the Titans had a more balanced offense with vertical threats around him.

Point is, Henry is not the cause of the Titans' current issues or the reason behind an underwhelming 7-10 season in 2022.

I do believe the Titans desperately need to adapt their offensive philosophy into one that prioritizes the pass and stretching the field. Tennessee needs to find more balance and the ability to lean on their passing game for quick points when they get behind late in games. But trading Derrick Henry would be such a large step backwards in terms of being a Super Bowl contender.

It feels counter intuitive that a team coached by Mike Vrabel (one of the NFL's top head coaches) could publicly rule out the idea of "tanking" for the 2023 season, just to turn around and trade the face of their franchise.

Nonetheless, the report came out Monday morning from Michael Silver of Bally Sports that Tennessee had been shopping Henry around the league during the NFL Combine, a situation that Silver expected to be resolved by the end of next week.

So if the Titans were to move Henry…Where could the future Hall of Famer land?

Here are three potential trade destinations for Derrick Henry.

1. Buffalo Bills

It would shock me if Buffalo Bills' GM Brandon Beane hadn't already picked up the phone to inquire about Henry.

Buffalo was one of the final few teams vying to acquire Christian McCaffrey at the trade deadline last season before McCaffrey was dealt to San Francisco in October. Months later, the Bills would have their Super Bowl dreams come crashing down, largely due to their inability to run the ball with consistency against the Cincinnati Bengals.

They would be wise not to let history repeat itself here.

The Bills have not had a 1,000 yard rusher since LeSean McCoy in 2017, and finally pairing quarterback Josh Allen with an elite and consistent back like Henry would take this offense to the next level.

2. Detroit Lions

Veteran running back Jamaal Williams had a career high in both rushing yards (1,066) and touchdowns (17) in a breakout season for the Detroit Lions in 2022.

Williams' power running style was the perfect compliment to pass-catching threat D'Andre Swift in the backfield for Detroit a year ago, and with Williams an unrestricted free agent, perhaps it's time for Dan Campbell and company to upgrade at the position and make the call on Henry.

According to OverTheCap.com, Detroit is currently sitting with over $22 million of available cap space for 2023. That's more than enough to accommodate Henry's $10.5 million base salary.

Adding Henry to this backfield could make the Lions the preseason favorite in the NFC North next year.

3. Baltimore Ravens

So much of the Baltimore Ravens' offseason will be determined by what happens with star quarterback Lamar Jackson, who has been the subject of his own trade rumors the past few weeks.

Between Gus Edwards, J.K. Dobbins, and others, the Ravens have never really had one consistent lead rusher with Jackson under center. Should Jackson return to Baltimore, it would be in the Ravens' best interest to bring in a running back that can carry a heavier work load and take Jackson's threat-level to new heights.

Baltimore also hired Todd Monken to be their offensive coordinator this offseason. Monken has an established and successful history with his run designs. He was the offensive coordinator at Georgia from 2020-2022, where he helped the Bulldogs win back-to-back national titles leaning on the ground game.

Before Georgia, Monken was the offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns, where he helped running back Nick Chubb breakout as an NFL sophomore.

The Ravens retaining Jackson and adding Henry into the mix would strike fear into defenses around the league.

Image via Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports