Three Derrick Henry Trade Destinations

The Tennessee Titans are not in a great spot as we near the halfway point of the season, sitting in last in the NFC South at 2-4 while shuffling through different starting QBs as Ryan Tannehill deals with injury. That makes them a prime candidate to be sellers at the trade deadline and the name popping up the most is Derrick Henry. He is the most valuable player on the roster in terms of his ability to make an instant impact, and perhaps more importantly, in the final year of his contract.

There haven’t been many tangible rumors but the latest report from Ian Rapoport suggests that, while Tennessee will not move Henry for a bag of chips, they’ll be listening to any and all trade offers.

NFL teams are no longer interested in paying running backs anything in the range of the $10 million Henry will make this year, and certainly not interested in giving up a “premium pick” for the right to do so, but Henry is different. His physical running style could be a huge benefit in the postseason and when he gets going he becomes an offense unto himself. That could be worth a high pick to the right team who feels they’re on the precipice of championship contention.

Who might those teams be? Here are a few possible trade destinations for King Henry should the Titans decide to move the multi-time NFL rushing leader.

Henry once single-handedly knocked the Ravens out of the playoffs. Now he could be the last piece they need to complete their offense– if the Titans are willing to play ball with an organization that has become a bit of a rival in recent years. Baltimore’s run game lost a lot of its bite once JK Dobbins went down; Gus Edwards and Justice Hill are fine, but not particularly threatening running backs. The team’s offense is no longer set up for Lamar Jackson to gain 1,000 yards on the ground. Henry would make life very difficult for opposing defenses and the Ravens could afford to use him sparingly down the stretch so he’s healthy to rip through everybody in front of him come postseason. An ideal destination as long as Tennessee isn’t bothered by working with Baltimore.

The Lions seem perfectly built for Henry. They boast one of the best offensive lines in the league, Dam Campbell has built a culture around physical football that fits Henry like a glove, and they recognize they have a golden opportunity to go where few Lions teams have gone before this year. Detroit is 5-2 with a few games ahead of everyone else in the NFC North as well as a legitimate opportunity to seize a top playoff seed. Their run game is totally fine when David Montgomery is healthy but he’s been banged up recently and Jahmyr Gibbs does not seem ready to be a feature back. This is the season for the Lions to go all the way in and Henry would be a worthy addition to the roster.

We all know the Chiefs do not need many weapons if they have Patrick Mahomes under center but this year is even worse than last year in terms of the MVP quarterback’s offensive support. Isaiah Pacheco runs hard and makes for a good rotational backfield with Jerrick McKinnon but he isn’t a game-changer. Travis Kelce might be a little old to be the only difference-maker in the whole offense. All that said, Kansas City will be fine on that side of the ball. But the defense is very, very good this season. Good enough to make the Chiefs think about making an all-in move that contenders of their ilk don’t have to make but have the ability to survive the consequences if it doesn’t work out. Similar to the Ravens deal it’ll require the Titans playing ball with a team they’ve faced in the postseason very recently, but if KC is willing to part with a good enough pick it could happen. And then we get Mahomes-Henry play-action passes. A horrifying concept.