Derrick Henry to Ravens: Titans chose the King's farewell over football business
The Derrick Henry era in Nashville is now officially over. On Tuesday, the former Tennessee Titans running back signed a two year deal with Baltimore Ravens that's worth up to $20 million with $9 million guaranteed. The fact that Baltimore is signing Henry shouldn't come as much of a surprise. According to reports, the Ravens […]
The Derrick Henry era in Nashville is now officially over.
On Tuesday, the former Tennessee Titans running back signed a two year deal with Baltimore Ravens that's worth up to $20 million with $9 million guaranteed.
The fact that Baltimore is signing Henry shouldn't come as much of a surprise.
According to reports, the Ravens attempted to trade for Henry multiple times.
AtoZ Sports' Buck Reising reported last October that Baltimore was interested in trading for Henry, but the two franchises could never come to an agreement on compensation, due in part to Henry's contract and the Ravens' lack of cap space at the time.
The immediate feeling for some fans and reporters/analysts is that Tennessee should've just found a way to trade Henry to the Ravens last season, instead of watching him walk in free agency and receiving nothing in return.
I can certainly understand that point of view. Receiving something is better than receiving nothing.
But I also don't have a problem with what the Titans essentially did — they chose a proper sendoff for Henry, which afforded him to the opportunity to address fans in Nashville after his last game, over receiving what likely would've been a mid to late round draft pick in return for the veteran running back.
The NFL is a business, but there's a human element to the league as well. Receiving a day three draft pick wasn't worth robbing Henry of a ceremonious ending to his time in Nashville. The conversation is probably different if Baltimore offers an early round draft pick, but that almost certainly wasn't what was being offered.
Maybe the Titans cost themselves the next great late round selection that blossoms into a Pro Bowler. Or maybe they would've used that pick to select a player that's out of the league in a year or two. It's impossible to know how it would've played out. What we do know, however, is that the franchise should have no regrets over the classy sendoff that Henry received on January 7 after the Titans' season-ending win against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
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