Derrick Henry Becomes Season’s Highest-Paid RB, per Report

Despite the move, the team reportedly didn’t add years to his deal, and 2023 will be the last season of his contract.

The Titans have reworked star running back Derrick Henry’s contract and will make him the highest-paid player at his position for the 2022 season, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. His $2 million raise brings his salary to $14 million for the year, but Tennessee did not add years onto his current deal.

As it stands, 2023 is the last season of his current contract. If both sides don’t agree on an extension next offseason, Henry will become an unrestricted free agent in 2024. 

Henry has not only been one of the best running backs in the NFL, but he has put together one of the best stretches in NFL history until injury hampered his success in 2021. The star tailback rushed for 2,027 yards in 2020, becoming just the eighth person in NFL history to reach the milestone. He was on pace to do the same again last season, but he suffered a Jones fracture in Week 8 that would end up sidelining him for the remainder of the regular season. 

Despite only playing eight games, Henry finished the year with 937 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground. He finished the season ninth in rushing yards. 

Ever since the Titans selected him in the second round of the 2016 draft, he has been named All-Pro twice, he appeared in two Pro Bowls and was named the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year in 2020. In 2019 and 2020 he led the league in both rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. Now, he’ll have the chance to prove he’s still the same force to be reckoned with in 2022.