Tennessee Titans: Derrick Henry long-term contract could be coming

The deadline to sign Derrick Henry is approaching as the Tennessee Titans are working to sign Henry to a long-term deal.

The 2020 season could be one where Derrick Henry is playing under a franchise tag, and it’s looking like that could be a possibility as contract talks with the Tennessee Titans continue as there’s less than a month to get the deal done.

The Titans have until July 15th to put pen to paper and sign Henry to a long-term deal before he will be forced to play under the franchise tag for the 2020 season. That has to be at the front of general manager Jon Robinson’s mind.

Robinson touched on the contract talks in a conference call with reporters where he said that there are still conversations with Henry and his agents about getting a deal done.

"“We had a phone call (with Derrick’s agent) last week, had a phone call the week before that,” Robinson said. “We’re just continuing to work through things. The conversations have been positive between me and the reps there and we’re just trying to find some common ground.“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Derrick is an important part of what we do, and we’re just trying to find the spot where we all need to be and where we all want to be.”"

Coming into the offseason, it seemed like Henry would’ve been the first player that the Titans pay and sign to a long-term deal, but that obviously hasn’t been the case, and in fact, it looks like he will be the last player to get a long-term deal.

Without Henry, who knows where the Titans finish the 2019 season. Who knows how well Ryan Tannehill would’ve performed or if he would still be on the Titans roster to this day. The Titans offense revolved around Henry, and without him, I can’t imagine that the Titans make it to the playoffs, much less the AFC Championship.

If the Titans want to be as successful as they were in 2019 for the next four or five years, then the Titans will have to sign Henry to a long-term contract. I can’t imagine the Titans being any more successful than what they did in 2019 by relying solely on Tannehill.