What Derrick Henry signing franchise tag means for Tennessee Titans

Derrick Henry has signed his franchise tender with the Tennessee Titans, and this means that a long-term deal is definitely coming for Henry.

News broke on Thursday morning that Derrick Henry signed his franchise tender with the Tennessee Titans to remain in Nashville for 2020. General manager Jon Robinson said that they will also continue to work on a long-term deal that will hopefully be signed by June.

The Titans placed its non-exclusive franchise tag on their star running back when free agency began after they chose to sign quarterback Ryan Tannehill to his own long-term deal.

There’s now a new report that came from ESPN’s Dianna Russini and Adam Schefter that’s reporting that Henry signed that deal to stay with the Titans in 2020. The $10.2 million franchise tender keeps Henry in Nashville and allows him to continue to negotiate his future with the Titans.

So what does this mean for Henry’s future with the Titans? Well, this means he will be at training camp for one, which is extremely important for the 2020 season.

Robinson also said in a Wednesday conference call that this doesn’t mean contract talks will die down now. It might mean the opposite actually, which means we could see a long-term contract come sometime this summer.

The date to mark on your calendar for Henry is July 15th. If Henry and the Titans can’t get a long-term contract signed by July 15th, then Henry will have to play on the franchise tag for the 2020 season.

If the Titans want to sign Jadeveon Clowney and maybe even bring back Logan Ryan, then Henry playing on the franchise tag would probably be their best option for the 2020 season and continue negotiations into the fall.

I don’t know how worried they are about that, though. Signing Henry should be above signing Clowney and if that means bringing back Ryan to help the secondary, then I wouldn’t be too upset about that.

This is a great thing for both Henry and the Titans. Some are worried that Henry will start trending downward, but I don’t see that happening any time soon after his performance last season.