Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson will now be in the same backfield, an idea that made many Ravens fans giddy with excitement on Tuesday.
After reportedly eyeing the four-time Pro Bowl running back before last year’s trade deadline, Baltimore general manager Eric DeCosta has landed Henry with a two-year, $16 million contract, according to ESPN and NFL Network. The deal includes $9 million fully guaranteed as well as incentives that could push the contract total to $20 million, easily making it the biggest financial commitment the Ravens have made at the running back position since signing three-time Pro Bowl selection Mark Ingram to a three-year, $15 million contract in 2019.
Deals for unrestricted free agents cannot be made official until the start of the new league year on Wednesday afternoon.
In an era in which the running back position has been devalued, the massive 6-foot-3, 247-pound Henry has remained a historic outlier as he just completed his fifth 1,000-yard rushing season of the last six years and is on track in 2024 to become the 32nd player in league history to eclipse 10,000 career rushing yards. The former Tennessee Titan has carried the ball more than 2,000 times in his career, leaving some skeptics to brace for the decline he’s managed to fight off despite logging 280 or more rushing attempts in four of the last five seasons. Henry did average a career-low 4.16 yards per carry while again leading the NFL in rushing attempts last season, but he also finished second in the league in yards after contact, eighth in yards after contact per attempt, and 17th in rushing yards over expected per attempt, numbers reflecting just how little help he received from a lousy Tennessee offensive line.
In 2020, Henry became just the eighth man in NFL history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season, a list that also includes Ravens Ring of Honor inductee Jamal Lewis (2003). The 2016 second-round pick out of Alabama was named the AP Offensive Player of the Year and a first-time All-Pro selection for that season.
Considering the financial commitment, expectations for Henry’s production should be high with Baltimore running backs having benefitted from Jackson’s dual-threat ability for several years now. In each of his five full seasons as the starting quarterback, the Ravens have ranked no worse than fifth in both rushing yards and yards per carry. Baltimore also finished in the top three in rushing DVOA in each of those seasons except 2021 when the offense still finished 12th despite Jackson and multiple running backs missing extensive time with injuries.
Even after losing starting running back J.K. Dobbins in the season opener and speedy undrafted rookie Keaton Mitchell in mid-December, the Ravens finished first in rushing yards, third in yards per carry, first in rushing DVOA, and third in rushing EPA in 2023. That makes it at least fair to wonder if such an investment at running back was the best use of resources when the Ravens have limited salary cap space and no shortage of other needs to address this offseason, a list that includes their offensive line. Of course, that doesn’t mean it won’t be exciting watching opposing defenses try to slow a rushing attack that includes Henry, Jackson, and eventually Mitchell, whose status for the start of the 2024 season remains unclear.
On Monday, longtime Ravens running back Gus Edwards agreed to a two-year, $6.5 million contract with the Los Angeles Chargers. The 28-year-old averaged 5.0 yards per carry in each of his first four healthy seasons in Baltimore, but he dipped to a career-low 4.1 yards per carry last year. Though rarely the primary option for Baltimore’s ground game, Edwards has been one of the league’s most efficient running backs in recent years.
