As the July 15 deadline approaches for the Tennessee Titans to sign running back Derrick Henry to a long-term deal, it appears the two sides won’t get something done — and that could lead to the back getting franchise tagged again in 2021.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Henry and the Titans are not expected to reach an agreement. That means the Alabama product will play out the 2020 season on the franchise tag, making $10.278 million.
This puts Henry on track to become a free agent once again in 2021, but the Titans can simply place the franchise tag on Henry once again in order to avoid that.
If the Titans take that route instead of inking him to an extension, Henry will make about $12.33 million next year, per ESPN’s Dan Graziano.
Getting an extension done with Henry was always going to be difficult.
On top of the position being devalued over the years and teams being more hesitant to hand out lucrative, long-term deals to running backs, the NFL’s uncertain financial future also could have played a role.
If revenue is lost in 2020 due to the restrictions in place because of the coronavirus pandemic, the salary cap could actually go down in 2021. Because of that, teams are going to be more careful about giving out big extensions right now, as general manager Jon Robinson recently stated.
It isn’t clear if that affected negotiations with Henry, or if it was simply a case of the two sides not finding a common ground, or a little bit of both. Unfortunately, we haven’t gotten any insight into what Henry is looking for, nor what the Titans are offering.
Whatever the case may be, Henry looks on track to get the tag once again in 2021, although it isn’t clear if he’d be as amenable to playing on it as he is this year.
