After spending the first eight years of his career establishing him as one of the NFL’s all-time greats with the Tennessee Titans, the closest Derrick Henry ever got to making it to the Super Bowl was the 2019 AFC championship.
That was the only time he made it past the divisional round in the four trips to the playoffs he made with his former team. When the two-time league rushing champion was set to hit the free agent market for the first time in his career last offseason, landing somewhere he could both legitimately and immediately contend for and potentially win a Vince Lombardi trophy was a top priority and played a key factor in him ultimately joining the Baltimore Ravens, a perennial title contender.
“I want to win a championship here and that’s why I came here and that’s always gonna be the goal,” Henry said in a recent appearance on ‘The Lounge’ podcast. “Hopefully, before it’s all said and done, that we do that, and I have pride and have belief that we will.”
The Ravens and the five-time Pro Bowler agreed to a two-year extension to keep him in Baltimore through the 2027 season after his first year with the team couldn’t have gone any better in every way but the one that mattered most, winning a championship. Henry became the first player not named Lamar Jackson to lead the team in rushing yards since Gus Edwards in 2018 by putting up the second most in the league with 1,921 to go along with a league-leading 16 rushing touchdowns and career-high 5.9 yards per carry.
When asked if he thinks that his latest deal could be his last in the NFL, the fact that he is coming off the second-most productive season of his career at 30 years old has Henry justifiably believing there is plenty more left in the tank.
“I’m not putting a timetable on when I’m going to be done playing,” Henry said. “When you feel like you’ve done enough and you gave the game your all, it’s time to hang it up. But I ain’t thought about that, I ain’t thinking about it. I feel great, not even close.
Despite being one of the hottest teams down the stretch of the 2024 season on both sides of the ball with Henry as a major catalyst for their success on offense, the Ravens came up just short of reaching the AFC title game for the second year in a row. They were a dropped two-point conversion away from completing an incredible second-half comeback against the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round.
The pain and agony from losing to a team they had shellacked and blown out by 20-plus points during the regular season at Henry so much that his break from the grind of gearing up for another crack at making a title run lasted a week before he was back in the gym working out.
While he has been busy building up his body, the Ravens front office was hard at work as well this offseason. They were able to retain some of the key pieces that were instrumental to Henry’s success in particular by re-signing two-time Pro Bowl left tackle Ronnie Stanley and five-time Pro Bowl fullback Patrick Ricard. In free agency and the 2025 NFL Draft, they added even more pieces to upgrade and fortify the team in all three phases and now boast one of the best rosters on paper in the entire league.
“We have everything we need to do that, it’s just that we gotta do it,” Henry said. “I definitely want to get this done so, you know, I can have more years to be able to help them accomplish that and I’m excited for this season and that’s the focus.”
When the team reconvenes for Organized Team Activities next week, Henry plans on relaying his message of urgency and confidence and ability to make 2025 the season they go all the way and claim the franchise’s third title and first since 2012.
“I want to win it and I think we can win it here, we will win it,” Henry said.
