'Get Cowboys Love!' Derrick Henry Invited to Sign with Dallas by Michael Irvin

'2,000 Yards!' Derrick Henry Should Sign with Dallas Cowboys in NFL Free Agency, Argues Michael Irvin

FRISCO - So you're a Dallas Cowboys fan who thinks "America's Team'' should go "all in'' for 2024 by signing two-time NFL rushing champion Derrick Henry?

No less an authority - and no less than an "Unofficial President of the Cowboys Booster Club'' - than icon Michael Irvin has your back.

"Derrick Henry can get them back! Derrick Henry hasn't gotten the love that he deserves,'' Irvin said on FS1's Undisputed. "Come on over. Put that star on your helmet, buddy, and let us show you that kind of love!''

irvin, dak, henry

We have no idea what Irvin's talking about in terms of Titans "love.'' At age 30, he's viewed as an all-time legend with a Hall of Fame future. Tennessee has paid him handsomely for his service ...

But now he is indeed free. And so the last few offseasons full of rumors about a Dallas connection - never valid in terms of the Cowboys' front-office desires and sometimes fueled by the fact that Henry works out here in DFW in the offseason - at least allows an easy path to making a transaction.

All Dallas has to do is prioritize signing him.

CowboysSI.com has been told that the Cowboys prefer the idea of using, say, a Day 2 draft pick on a running back while also likely turning the page from Tony Pollard, a free agent who was franchise-tagged a year ago at $10 million.

It is our impression that Dallas does not plan on spending $10 million per year on a running back again any time soon.

Would Henry play for less than that in order to "put the star on his helmet and feel the love''? One projection suggests he might be a $4.6 million guy on a one-year deal. We will admit that such an idea is far more tempting than spending twice that. ... especially as we review the fact that Henry is coming off his sixth straight season with over 1,000 yards from scrimmage and double-digit touchdowns.

Last year, remarkably, marked the fourth time in five years that he led the NFL in carries.

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Having said all that, you in Cowboys Nation need to make sure you are being more rational about the idea of Derrick-to-Big-D than Irvin is when he said, "Let's see Derrick Henry get 2,000 yards for the Dallas Cowboys," Irvin said.

A 2,000-yard season for a 30-year-old power-back on a team already featuring the pass-and-catch combo of Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb? That number doesn't seem at all likely. But if there is a dollars-and-sense number?

We bet you'll happily grab a seat on the "Unofficial President of the Cowboys Booster Club'' Michael Irvin/Derrick Henry Bandwagon.


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Mike Fisher
MIKE FISHER

Mike Fisher - as a newspaper beat writer and columnist and on radio and TV, where he is an Emmy winner - has covered the NFL since 1983 and the Dallas Cowboys since 1990, is the author of two best-selling books on the Cowboys.