Ravens Land Derrick Henry (2024)

King Henry will rule in Baltimore.

The Ravens have agreed to terms with veteran running back Derrick Henry on a two-year deal.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, it's for a reported $16 million. Henry confirmed the agreement on Tuesday, which is reportedly worth a max of $20 million and has $9 million guaranteed in Year 1.

Flock Nation I swea it’s up ! 💪🏾

— Derrick Henry  (@KingHenry_2) March 12, 2024

While the running back market was hot at the start of the legal tampering period, the Ravens and Henry were patient, and a match made in heaven long rumored to be in the works, dating back to last year’s trade deadline, came to fruition.

In Henry, the Ravens would get the most productive rusher in recent NFL history and a dangerous complement to two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Since 2017, Henry leads the NFL in almost all rushing categories, including rushing yards (9,012), rushing touchdowns (85), rushing yards per game (86.7), rushing attempts (1,920) and rushes of 10-plus yards (220).

The Ravens know this firsthand. Henry has had some of his biggest performances against them. He knocked the Ravens out of the 2019 playoffs with 30 carries for 195 yards and a leaping touchdown pass. The following year, Henry iced an overtime Titans win in Baltimore with a 29-yard touchdown run.

The questions pundits and fans have is whether he will continue to be at or among the league's top backs. Henry's age and workload are likely the reason why he wasn't scooped up in the first wave of running back signings. He turned 30 in January and has the most rushing attempts since 2018 (1,744).

The counterpoint is that Henry has shown no signs of wearing down. The stats show it and so do the advanced metrics.

Last season, he still finished second in the league in rushing yards (1,167) and tied for seventh with 12 rushing touchdowns.

He's still breaking tackles. Henry had the second-most rushing yards after contact in the league (930), only trailing San Francisco's Christian McCaffrey, per Pro Football Focus (PFF).

.@KingHenry_2's insane offseason workouts are back. 💪👑

(via sandersfit_/IG) pic.twitter.com/TCg7Y1VWDv

— NFL (@NFL) March 6, 2024

He's still running away from defenders. Henry's breakaway run percentage ranked sixth-best among running backs with at least 50 attempts, per PFF.

He's still fast. Henry hit a max speed of 21.68 mph on a run in the Titans' regular-season finale last season. It was the second-fastest speed he reached in the past five seasons, per Next Gen Stats. He had the fifth-best sustained high speed (21.52 mph) of any running back in the league last year.

Derrick Henry hit 21.68 mph on this run in Week 18 last season. 👑💨 pic.twitter.com/37MdxNWHjv

— Ryan Mink (@ryanmink) March 12, 2024

So @NextGenStats has a sustained top speed metric. It's maintaining a speed for 0.5 seconds or more.

Here's the leaderboard for all NFL running backs in 2023:

Chase Brown - 21.99
Keaton Mitchell - 21.95
Devon Achane - 21.87
Jerome Ford - 21.56
Derrick Henry - 21.52

— Ryan Mink (@ryanmink) March 12, 2024

Generally, the league has determined that 30 is the magic number when it comes to running back decline. But there are exceptions to every rule, and the 6-foot-3, 245-pound Henry may be that exception.

There's also reason to believe that in Baltimore, Henry will be set up for even more success than he had in Tennessee, where he played the past eight seasons and left with the second-most rushing yards in franchise history, only trailing Eddie George. The Ravens had had one of the league's top rushing attacks for several years, in part because of Jackson's legs.

Henry's power, combined with Jackson's speed, should cause nightmares for defenses. Linebackers and safeties, in particular, have to be wary of Jackson's ability to pull the ball and beat them around the edge. That forces them to hesitate. But when Jackson hands off to Henry, any hesitation may get a defender run over.