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The Baltimore Ravens haven’t done much to improve their roster in free agency during the 2024 NFL offseason, but the one move they made was a big one.
They signed Derrick Henry to be their new RB1.
Before the Ravens signed Henry, there were surprisingly few other teams that were believed to be in the mix to sign him.
Even more surprisingly, it seems that one of the other teams that was expected to try and sign him never actually tried to.
During an appearance on The Pivot Podcast, Henry revealed that he never heard from the Dallas Cowboys.
“They ain’t holla at me at all. It would’ve been crazy. I thought it’d been some type of reach out, some type of talks or whatever. They never reached out, you know what I’m saying? I don’t really know too much about their organization. All I know is what I hear. I was talking to my agent. They weren’t really interested. It is what it is. Like I said earlier, I’m gonna be where I’m gonna be, and I feel like Baltimore was the perfect spot.”
Henry owns a home in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and regular holds offseason workouts in the area.
The Cowboys actually still haven’t gotten a running back this offseason and Rico Dowdle is currently the RB1 on their roster.
Henry ended up signing a two-year contract with the Ravens.
How Things Might Have Played Out for Ravens
If the Cowboys had reached out to Henry and gotten a deal done, the Ravens could have been in some trouble at running back.
They had already lost Gus Edwards to free agency.
Their only running backs on the roster before they signed Henry were Justice Hill and Keaton Mitchell and Mitchell is coming off of a torn ACL that he suffered late in 2023.
There were also very few options left at the position by the time the Ravens signed Henry.
If they hadn’t landed him, they could currently be stuck looking at the draft for their next running.
This year’s draft doesn’t have a clear elite option like we’ve seen in recent drafts. There isn’t even an RB that has established himself as the best in the class.
Luckily, they didn’t end up having to make a decision on this year’s draft class and instead have a proven option to lean on at RB for the next couple of seasons.
A Huge Pickup for the Ravens
Adding Henry was a huge move for the Ravens. They have been one of the league’s most run-heavy teams over recent years, but without a truly elite option that really commanded carries at RB.
There aren’t many running backs in the NFL that can claim to have put together an elite career like Henry.
Henry became the RB1 in Tennessee back in 2018. In the six seasons since, he has run for more than 8000 yards and 80 touchdowns.
He was the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year in 2020 after he ran for 2027 yards and 17 TDs.
Henry also earned a pair of All-Pro nods and has been voted into the Pro Bowl four times.
The team shied away from their run game in the AFC Championship Game last season and it proved to be costly for them.
Now that won’t be an issue for them during the 2024 season as they’ve added one of the most dominant runners in the league.
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