‘KING’ ARRIVES
Four-time Pro Bowl back gives Ravens one of NFL’s best rushing duos
Twenty-four hours after NFL free agency began in earnest, the Ravens and general manager Eric DeCosta made a big splash Tuesday afternoon.
Former Tennessee Titans star running back Derrick Henry has agreed to sign with Baltimore, according to a source with direct knowledge of the deal, in a blockbuster free agent signing that instantly upgrades the Ravens’ backfield to a level it hasn’t seen since the days of Jamal Lewis in the early aughts and Ray Rice in the years that followed.
The deal is for two years and $16 million, including $9 million guaranteed, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, and could be worth up to $20 million.
“Flock Nation I swea it’s up !” Henry wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Henry, 30, is a four-time Pro Bowl selection who led the NFL in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns in 2019 and 2020, when he was named the league’s Offensive Player of the Year. He became just the eighth running back in league history to surpass 2,000 rushing yards in a season during his All-Pro 2020 campaign, finishing with 2,027 and 17 touchdowns. His 9,502 career rushing yards rank second in Titans history, 507 behind
Eddie George and nearly 1,000 more than Pro Football Hall of Famer Earl Campbell, and his six career games with 200-plus rushing yards are tied for the most in NFL history.
Henry’s addition gives the Ravens one of the sport’s most dynamic backfields, with Henry lining up alongside quarterback Lamar Jackson, a two-time NFL Most Valuable Player who also holds the NFL single-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback (1,206) and whose 5,258 career rushing yards rank fourth all-time at the position. With Henry’s 8,268 yards since 2018, the
through injuries while not missing a game in his four seasons with the Ravens, and was one of the team’s emotional leaders.
Along with Smith, who arrived via a trade with the Chicago Bears midway through the 2022 season, the two formed perhaps the best inside linebacker duo in the league and they were the vocal leaders of a defense that became the first to lead the league in sacks, takeaways and points allowed per game in the same season.
But the more success Queen had the more obvious it became the Ravens would not be able to afford to keep him, especially after signing quarterback Lamar Jackson to a five-year, $260 million extension last year and defensive tackle Justin Madubuike to four-year, $98 million extension last week. Baltimore also has several other holes to fill, including on the offensive line and at outside linebacker.
While general manager Eric DeCosta had said that he wanted to see if there would be a way to keep Queen, he acknowledged the difficulty of doing so given the team’s salary cap restraints.
“You just can’t keep every single player on your team,” DeCosta said Monday. “That’s a frustrating aspect of this job that I have.”
Queen likewise said at the end of the season that it would be “nice” to come back but also said he had to do what’s “best for me, what’s best for my family.”
That new family just happens to be Baltimore’s rival, one that has been familiar with Queen for years. Before his first game against the Steelers as a rookie in 2020, Queen said Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin repeatedly yelled at him, “You’re not a Raven.”
Queen viewed it as disrespectful and carried it with him every time Baltimore played the Steelers, saying last year that every time he plays them “there’s something personal.”
“I don’t care if he was joking,” Queen said last season. “I don’t care if he was serious. At the end of the day, I’m on your sideline and you’re telling me I’m not a Raven. That’s kind of disrespectful.”
Now, Queen isn’t a Raven and instead will be on the sideline of Baltimore’s most hated foe when the teams meet next season.