Dallas Signing Derrick Henry Should be 'Top Priority!' in Free Agency, Says Cowboys Ex
All last offseason, Derrick Henry saw his name being linked with the Dallas Cowboys after Ezekiel Elliott was moved on, but it never eventuated. Tony Pollard was the lead back and Henry remained in Tennessee ... but how quickly things can change in 12 months.
Maybe.
With Dallas performing at a mediocre level in the run game this season (ranked 15th with 113.5 yards per), along with Pollard and Henry being free agents, the Dallas narrative finally fits.
Maybe.
After the Cowboys' issues consistently running the football, especially in the red zone, former Dallas defensive lineman and now TV analyst Marcus Spears thinks that Henry should be the Cowboys' No. 1 priority this offseason.
“Jerry said he’s all in, there were red zone issues last year, there was a need for a physical back,” Spears said on NFL Live. “Derrick Henry should be a priority for the Dallas Cowboys. If you want to be a physical, running football team and you want to have a big, physical back in the red area to dictate what teams have to do defensively to defend you, this should be your call.
"Derrick Henry should be a top priority for the Dallas Cowboys if they are trying to go all in and have an opportunity to win a championship.”
clutchpoints.com
Now, for the Cowboys to sign Henry, it would go against the belief the organization has about having a running back over the age of 28 - but with Henry, there is still some tread on the tires.
Given Henry's age (30), one could be forgiven for thinking that his production is winding down, but for the Titans this year, he rushed for 1,168 yards and 12 touchdowns. His last game of the season, against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he rushed for 153 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. See, plenty of tread.
But let's look a little deeper.
Henry also had 69 fewer carries this season than last year (280 compared to 349), so technically, his body is "fresher" and he still surpassed 100 rushing yards four times and had totals of 80, 97, and 88 mixed in.
Additionally, Henry had three straight games of multiple rushing touchdowns. and only went back-to-back games without a touchdown once all season - for reference, Pollard had streaks of eight and four games where he didn't rush for a touchdown.
But perhaps what might be the thing that makes Jerry Jones give this move the tick of approval is the financial side. His market value is a tasty $4.3 million APY per spotrac.com, and that makes the idea of Henry coming to The Star even more of a possibility considering the franchise tag is set at $12 million so we find it hard to envision Jerry Jones signing Pollard to that.
Granted, Henry's average rushing yards per game has gone down each season (68.6 this year, lowest since 2018), but getting him for one year and going "all in," seems viable.
Henry has been linked with the Cowboys for the last couple of seasons, but this time the move finally feels at least a bit more "right.'' CowboysSI.com has already reported that Dallas is more likely to draft a Pollard replacement than it is to sign a big name. But now that Jerry has issued his "all-in'' promise?
Expect more responses to it from the likes of Spears, and from Cowboys Nation as well.
