NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After the Titans put the franchise tag on him, Derrick Henry told the team he wanted to iron out a long-term deal and the team told him the feeling was mutual, Jon Robinson said Wednesday.
Thursday the running back signed the $10.2 million tag.
Ends holdout possibility. New CBA penalties for holding out are significant. #Titans and @KingHenry_2 clearly on great terms. https://t.co/2ZUH96p6wn
— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) April 2, 2020
Still, as the Titans work to fill other areas of their roster, the timeline Robinson gave Wednesday for further conversations didn’t make it sound like any talks are coming soon.
“I’ve spoken to his representatives after we used the tag,” Robinson said in a conference call with the Titans’ press corps Wednesday afternoon. “We want to continue to have those conversations and those back-and-forths in hopes of reaching some type of long term agreement. [Unlocked]
“And we’ll kick those conversations again here certainly before training camp gets ramped up and going.”
Under typical circumstances, training camp gets ramped up and going near the end of July. But the deadline for negotiating a long-term deal with a tagged player is July 15. After the 15th, a team can’t talk about a new deal with a tagged player until after the season is over.
I imagine Robinson wasn't thinking of that as he spoke and would have used an earlier date if he was.
Even as the running back signed the tag, Robinson knows Henry can't be thrilled with his current status. We have not heard anything from Henry’s side.
“When you have to use a tag on them that’s something that ideally they probably don’t want,” Robinson said. “But still at the same time I know that he wants to be a part of this football team. I thought it was good that they communicated back that he does want to be here and he wants to keep working on this thing.
“It wasn’t, ‘OK, well I’ll take it and I’m done,’ or ‘I’m just going to do whatever.’ He wants to be here and he conveyed the message to me, though his agent, that he wants to keep working on this thing and we do too.”
Henry is represented by the high-powered Jimmy Sexton.
Recent contract squabbles for running backs have mostly not fared well.
Ezekiel Elliott got a new deal, but Le’Veon Bell missed a whole year of prime earning time and Melvin Gordon gained nothing from the Chargers by missing games before recently signing as a free agent with Denver.
Given this topic I find the top four words of Henry’s Instagram bio to be pertinent.
You are not authorised to post comments.