The Overwhelming Case For The Ravens Trading Derrick Henry At The NFL Deadline

The Ravens need to get real about the Frankenstein roster that feckless general manager Eric DeCosta constructed yet again.

They need to get real – as they scramble to find second-and-third-string QBs (we have the names) to prop up another lost season after getting three quarterbacks hurt Sunday (a 36-10 defeat that frankly flatters DeCosta and wannabe head coach Jesse Minter). It's time to acknowledge what a nightmare front office they are and what a pathetic offensive line they have constructed, again. Having blown years of opportunities to get two-time MVP Lamar Jackson extended and instead ending up with him in a potential walk year, and now on Injured Reserve and potentially having played his last snap as a Raven (the only one he completed Sunday; ambushed immediately by DeCosta's OL and "genius" Delan Doyle's playbook), it’s time to get real.

Checked-out billionaire Steve Bisciotti is running a $370M waste of payroll with DeCosta and team president Sashi Brown doling out ridiculous contracts to their buddies and building a roster with no heart, no soul, no leadership and precious few blue-chip performers. He already gave away a 2028 second-round pick that could end up in the top 10 of that round for a concussed and soon-to-be-benched offensive lineman. DeCosta needs to do right by some of these players and do right by the fanbase and start playing youngsters and eradicating some of the problems that are standing in their way.

Problem is, they aren’t getting anything in return for DeCosta’s guys – astonishingly overpaid vets like Mark Andrews, Marlon Humphrey, Roquan Smith, Trey Hendrickson, John Simpson – and they would have to include draft capital with them to incentivize any contending team with a teal GM to take them on. They are broken; they are done and the league already knew (they couldn't get anything for Andrews after the 2024 season(.

However, first-ballot Hall of Famer Derrick Henry, in a running back market that is already getting heated up for Jonathan Taylor (Colts) and Tony Pollard (Titans), could bring back decent return now and with so few other options, the rebuild should begin with him. Maybe they get a half decent pick for struggling left tackle Ronnie Stanley and they could get a lil something for 40-year-old defensive lineman Calais Campbell, who could help a good defense in their rotation but is wasting the likely final season of his Hall of Fame career here, too.

Let’s be clear, the Ravens trying desperately to get Bears back-up Tyson Bagent or demoted Cardinals QB Jacoby Brissett isn’t to save the season … it is literally to just be able to field a team with two QBs for a stretch of time. The Ravens will not have quality QB play this season, and if Jackson leaves, who knows when they will ever again (somebody ask DeCosta about Kyle Boller if you can find him; he’s cowering behind Sashi last I heard).

Why Henry Must Go

Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry is caught by Buffalo Bills defensive end AJ Epenesa and is pushed back by Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver and Buffalo Bills defensive end Dawuane Smoot during first half action at the Buffalo Bills divisional game against the Baltimore Ravens at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park on Jan. 19, 2025. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The only way, at age 32, with a terrible offensive line, this was going to have a chance to work was if Jackson was performing like the best player in football and drawing loads of attention from the defense with his legs and opening up space for Henry to get a head of steam before contact. DeCosta trade fail Cam Jurgens has made the run blocking worse (0.30 yards before contact for RBs in his first start; 0.75 in his second), Jackson is on IR and we are looking at having a backup QB from outside the building potentially start Thursday, or undrafted, beat-up rookie Joe Fagnano.

It’s over for Henry here. It has no shot to be even slightly below functional, let alone league average.

Doyle, the rookie offensive coordinator, is horribly out of his depth without the real genius, Jackson, on the field. And they are wasting what’s left of Henry's remarkable career, at the age where virtually all RB careers die (we told you in the spring). Yet Doyle is running Henry more than any back in the NFL and it's not getting better.

He is getting crushed at or behind the line of scrimmage, there is no under-center rush attack without Vega Ioane at center (he was out with a knee injury and they pushed him back to guard after the desperate ploy for Jurgens). Henry leads the NFL with 158 carries - this is ridiculous; a winning team with a team with a real offense could get way more out of him with less load – and ranks 29th at 4.0 yards per carry.

The last five weeks Henry is 33rd in the NFL at 3.6 yards/carry. That's the reality without Jackson.

For the season, Henry is 36th in the NFL at 0.87 yards before contact – that ain’t gonna work and it will get worse as Jurgens, a major medical red flag, gets beatdown in the second half of the season and with Simpson a waste of $10M and with the tackles getting exposed, too. How can I be 100% sure this will be an unmitigated disaster run game without Jackson? Here’s the breakdown for Henry:

With Jackson: 75 rush – 340 yards – 7 TDs (4.5/carry); 20 1st Downs, 1.12 Yds B4Contact

16% rushes 0 or Neg Yards, 42.7% Success Rate, 6.7% Explosive Rate

Without Jackson: 83 – 292 – 1 (3.5/carry); 12 1st Downs, 0.65 Yds B4Contract

23% rushes 0 or Neg Yds, 33.7% Success, 2.4% Explosive Rate

Check please. Let the selfish GM who is never at fault and always shuns accountability do right by this man and move the remaining $6M of his deal and get back some picks.

The Case Against Trading Henry

Aug 15, 2026; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens running back Adam Randall (23) runs with the ball against the Philadelphia Eagles at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Sabau-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

He doesn’t want to leave. For whatever reason, he is dead against it.

That’s it.

He doesn’t owe them anything, this isn’t what DeCosta sold him and running him into the ground with below-grade QBs and a failure offensive line serves no one. Give rookie “Joker” Adam Randall carries, run Wild Cat with Justice Hill. Empty out that playbook from the genius OC you hired when he was 29 years old (who comes from a coaching family tree of almost nothing but acute play-calling failures).

How about this for the mooks in the front office who haven’t worked hard in years and operate like made men who have jobs for life and peacock around like they’ve accomplished something:

FIND A REAL FOOTBALL PLAYER ON WAIVERS. GET OFF YOUR ASS ON A TUESDAY AND STEAL SOMEONE OFF A PRACTICE SQUAD LIKE THE RAIDERS STOLE DARREN WALLER FROM YOU. BACK UP FOR YOUR BS FOR JUST ONCE. PLEASE. SHOW HOW SMART YOU ARE AND FIND A DECENT BACK TO PLAY OUT THE STRING.

They are losers and have managed to be losers, even with Jackson producing what should have been three MVP seasons. And they are fat and lazy and entitled, because the owner always fired assistant coaches and never asked real questions of personnel (him claiming DeCosta essentially "hits on 80% of his transactions" back in January told you how little Mostly Silent Steve pays attention anymore).

I’ve known it forever, the league has known it for years and despite getting most of the Baltimore corporate media sucking from their thumb, the fans see DeCosta and Brown for the frauds they are now, too. (And longtime Ravens coordinator Wink Martindale breaks it down below).

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