Henry's Reworked Deal Provides Cap Relief

The two-time NFL rushing champion will get a little more money for the 2022 season but is still set to become a free agent in 2024.

The Tennessee Titans showed Derrick Henry a little additional up-front money. In so doing, they also managed to free up some funds for the 2022 season.

NFL.com reported Thursday that the Titans have reworked Henry’s contract to pay him an additional $2 million this season.

The increase, according to OverTheCap.com, comes in the form of a $9 million signing bonus, a reduction of Henry’s base salary for this season to $5 million (down from $12 million) and as much as another $1 million in bonuses based on his availability for games this season. The deal includes three voidable seasons that allow the bonus to be prorated through 2026 ($1.8 million each season from 2024-26).

The net result is some immediate salary cap relief. Henry’s cap number for this season drops from $15 million to $9.8 million, a savings of $5.2 million.

Effectively, the deal runs through next season, which was the case with the four-year, $50 million pact Henry signed on July 15, 2020 to remain with the Titans. His salary cap number for 2023 is now $15.3 million, a minimal savings from the original deal ($15.5 million) but also includes $5.4 million of dead money in 2024.

Henry still is set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2024.

In all, the move represents a show of faith for a player who missed nine games last season with a foot injury that required him to undergo surgery (a metal plate and several screws now provide stability in that foot). Henry gets a little more of that money now rather than franchise officials asking him to use this season to show that he is worth that amount, and the cost to cut him after this season rises slightly from $3 million under the original deal to $5.1 million (provided the move is made with a post-June 1 designation).

Henry’s salary next season had been set at $12.5 million, which was the highest of the four years. Henry made $3 million in that regard in 2020 and $10.5 million last season.

Also under the original contract, if the team decided to cut him after this season, he would have counted $3 million against the salary cap.

Henry was the NFL’s leading rusher in 2019 and 2020. His 2,027 yards in 2020 are the fifth-highest total in league history and made him the eighth player ever to top 2,000 in a season.

He was on his way to a third straight rushing title last season before he was hurt. Even having missed the final nine games, he still finished among the NFL’s top 10 with 937 rushing yards and was one of eight players to finish with 10 or more rushing touchowns.

Since the start of the 2017 season, he leads the NFL with 6,037 rushing yards, 60 rushing touchdowns and 160 runs of 10-plus yards.