OWINGS MILLS, MD. – Derrick Henry wore a purple suit and flashed a big smile, saying he was ready to get to work and earn the respect of his new teammates. Coach John Harbaugh said his defensive coaches would be happy they don’t have to worry about tackling Henry any more.
Two days after coming to terms with the Ravens, Henry signed his new two-year contract with the Ravens on March 14 and then met with the media at the team’s Under Armour Performance Center as the top free agent acquisition of the team’s 2024 offseason.
Henry, 30, comes to the Ravens after spending his first eight NFL seasons with the Tennessee Titans before becoming a free agent this week. The deal is reportedly worth $16 million over two years, with the potential to reach as much as $20 million with incentives.
“It really was a no-brainer for me,” Henry said. “This is where I knew I wanted to be. I love the style, the physicality that they play with.”
Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta called the 6-foot-3, 247-pound Henry “kind of a unicorn” with his singular combination of power, speed and durability. Henry, a former Heisman Trophy winner at Alabama, has topped the 1,000-yard rushing mark five times in the past six seasons, including 2020, when he ran for a league-best 2,027 yards — the fifth-most in a season in NFL history. He was named the league’s Offensive Player of the Year that season.
This past season, Henry ran a league-high 280 times for 1,167 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also caught 28 passes for 214 yards.
The Ravens have seen plenty of Henry over the years. In the 2019 playoffs, Henry ran 30 times for 195 yards and even threw a 3-yard touchdown pass as the Titans stunned the top-seeded Ravens, 28-12. The next year, the Ravens saw Henry again in the playoffs, but this time they held Henry to 40 yards on 18 carries in a 20-13 Ravens win. The Ravens faced Henry and Tennessee in London this past season, and Henry ran 12 times for 97 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown and a 63-yard run.
DeCosta said that Henry has been “a player that we’ve always admired. We’ve had a chance to watch from up close and also from afar. We’re thrilled to bring him here to Baltimore.”
DeCosta also confirmed that the Ravens tried to acquire Henry at the trade deadline last year, but no deal was ever finalized. As the Ravens looked to rebuild their group of running backs this spring, with most of theirs hitting free agency, “It made all the sense in the world for us to target Derrick.”
The Ravens ended the offseason with just one healthy back returning to the roster in Justice Hill. Keaton Mitchell’s promising rookie season was derailed by a torn ACL, and his timetable for the 2024 season is uncertain, although DeCosta said he is making good progress in his rehabilitation. J.K. Dobbins, Gus Edwards, Melvin Gordon and Dalvin Cook, all of whom spent time in the Ravens backfield in 2023, were set to become free agents.
Edwards agreed to a deal with the Los Angeles Chargers on the opening day of the so-called “tampering window” that starts free agency. He was one of several running backs to get new deals that day, while Henry waited a day before agreeing to terms with the Ravens.
Given the perception that the running back position is being devalued and de-emphasized in the NFL, Henry said he was pleased to see so many backs work out new deals right away in free agency, and he said he had no reservations about not being one of the first deals done.
“[I’m] happy to see those guys get paid … knowing that, at some point, my chances would come, and I’d get my opportunity, and I was hoping it would be here,” he said. “It all worked out, so I was happy.”
Harbaugh is happy too, to add one of the most physical backs in the league to an offense that prides itself on physicality. The Ravens have some shuffling to do in the offensive line, with three starters not returning, but Harbaugh smiled at the thought of a backfield with quarterback Lamar Jackson and Henry, and the possibility of Henry running behind road-grading Pro Bowl fullback Patrick Ricard.
“Game-planning wise, it’s going to give us a lot of options,” Harbaugh said.
Henry said he has yet to speak with Jackson since signing the new deal, but he said Jackson is “so dynamic.”
“[I’m] excited to play with him,” he added. “… Right now, [I’m] just trying to focus on coming [and] earning respect from my teammates.”
Henry’s durability has been one of his most impressive traits. He has led the league in carries in four of the past five years; the only outlier came when he missed the last half of the 2021 season with a foot injury. He has topped 300 carries three times.
That’s got some people wondering whether all that wear and tear will slow Henry down as he hits 30. He pushed back at that idea.
“Tell them to keep watching,” he said.
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