The Ravens had a chance to turn Derrick Henry into a deadline asset, and around the league there was real belief that opportunity was there for the taking.
Former Ravens head coach John Harbaugh made no secret of his search for a difference-making back before the trade deadline. He even said publicly that he had called Titans ownership himself about trying to land some of their top players. The Giants, meanwhile, had a second-round pick and at least a fifth-round pick on the table for Colts running back Jonathan Taylor, and once they backed away from that conversation because the price was too steep, multiple league sources said New York had serious interest in Henry too.
That fit made sense to people around the league. Harbaugh had already seen Henry at his best during two seasons in Baltimore, and he and his run-game specialist Greg Roman know what a back like Henry can do in option concepts with a young, mobile quarterback like Giants starter JJ McCarthy. Henry’s contract was not a problem either, with the Giants already looking at stars who made far more money.
“It’s got to be something that is a need, that fits your financial profile, that fits your price tag,” Harbaugh said of New York’s trade pursuits ahead of the deadline.
Baltimore, though, never seriously moved Henry. The Ravens sent strong signals throughout the market that they would not deal the slumping 32-year-old, even as the national conversation kept circling him. Instead, Baltimore made panic moves at the deadline, including what the source described as being fleeced by the Eagles for struggling lineman Cam Jurgens, while also giving away a kicker.
For a team without its second-round pick in 2028, after the Jurgens move, and already short on 2027 picks while dealing fourth-round value for quarterback Jacoby Brissett, the decision to hold Henry may end up looking costly. Multiple general managers said Henry still carried fourth-down value, and that if Baltimore had properly marketed him and played teams against each other, that would have been the floor.
One GM put it bluntly: “If they didn’t trade him now, they aren’t trading him,” and added, “They aren’t getting anything (of value) next year. That ship sailed.”
Another personnel executive who was active before the deadline said, “This was the time to trade him. Not in March. He won't have a market in March”
Mark Levin, who spent roughly 25 years running salary cap and agent administration for the NFLPA and also handled cap and contract work for the Washington Commanders before that, reached the same conclusion after looking at Baltimore’s payroll and cap situation. Levin said he would have urged a trade, and on “The Daily Flock” he said, “His value will probably not be any higher than it is right now,” while also explaining why he believes Lamar Jackson will be elsewhere in 2027. After Baltimore passed on moving Henry, Levin added, “I would lean probably towards keeping him (in 2027), if you don't trade him like right now.”
ESPN also reported that the Ravens essentially told Henry as much before the deadline.
The football side of the equation has not helped Baltimore’s case. If Jackson is not around, the run game is in trouble regardless.
The offensive line has major issues inside and at left tackle, and the shift to an under-center rushing attack has not worked. The Ravens rank 13th in under-center rushes, and without Jackson those carries are producing only 4.1 yards per carry.
Henry has been getting hit at or behind the line of scrimmage more than ever, a reflection of the line’s problems as much as anything else. He is averaging just 3.4 yards per carry over the last month, and the workload has been heavy for a 32-year-old back. That is a far cry from the 5.5 yards per rush he averaged in his first two years in Baltimore.
Rookie offensive coordinator Declan Doyle has handed Henry 175 carries through nine games, which ranks third-most through Week 9 for a 32-year-old running back since the 1970 AFL/NFL merger. Only Walter Payton and Otis Anderson had more at that age. Over the last six weeks, Henry has 109 carries for 388 yards, a 3.6-yard average, with two touchdown runs and just 0.67 yards before contact.
“They can keep running him into a brick wall, but he’s not going to run through it,” said an NFL exec who has advanced the Ravens this season, adding that Baltimore needs more speed backs and different looks out of the pistol because it cannot run inside or under center effectively with Henry.
Longtime NFL general manager Marty Hurney, who watches the Ravens closely for “The Daily Flock,” has also raised concerns about the ball security. As he put it on multiple occasions, “the fumbling has me a little concerned, too.”
Maybe those adjustments come later, but that would be a year too late. Doyle appears intent on squeezing 300 carries out of Henry this season, and whatever Henry looks like the rest of his Baltimore run, the missed chance to move him at the 2026 deadline could end up being one more expensive decision for a rebuilding team by February.
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