A $104 million gamble… over? The Ravens are expected to part ways with Derrick Henry, a move that will send shockwaves through the NFL.

In the high-stakes, brutally pragmatic universe of the National Football League, where sentimentality is often the first casualty of the salary cap, few forces of nature have seemed as immutable, as reliably destructive, as Derrick Henry.

The man they call “King Henry” didn’t just play running back; he was a walking anachronism, a battering ram of a bygone era, whose very existence defied the league’s accelerating shift toward a pass-happy, committee-based approach to the ground game. His arrival in Baltimore just ten months ago was heralded not merely as a transaction, but as a coronation.

It was the final, missing piece to a championship puzzle, the thunderous, between-the-tackles power that would perfectly complement the lightning-strike elusiveness of quarterback Lamar Jackson.

The union between the NFL’s most unique quarterback and its most dominant running back was supposed to be a multi-year dynasty in the making, a partnership that would terrify defensive coordinators for seasons to come.

Which is why the seismic report emerging from Owings Mills—that the Baltimore Ravens are expected to part ways with the $104 million running back after a single, albeit successful, season—lands not just as a surprise, but as a veritable football earthquake.

This isn’t a simple roster move; it’s a paradigm-shifting decision that forces us to re-evaluate the value of the running back position, the ruthless calculus of NFL front offices, and the very blueprint for constructing a Super Bowl contender in the modern era.

This is the story of a shocking divorce before the honeymoon even had a chance to cool, a decision rooted in cold, hard financial reality rather than on-field production, and a move that will irrevocably alter the landscapes of both the Baltimore Ravens and the 2025 NFL free agency market.

The Coronation: How We Got Here

To fully comprehend the shock of this decision, one must first re-live the unbridled optimism of March 2024. The Ravens, fresh off a devastating AFC Championship Game loss to the Kansas City Chiefs where their offense had stalled at the most inopportune moments, entered the offseason with a clear mandate: get Lamar Jackson more weapons.

The signing of Derrick Henry on a two-year, $16 million contract, with a maximum value of $20 million, was the headline-grabbing, franchise-altering move that sent a clear message to the entire league: Baltimore was all-in.

The logic was unimpeachable. Lamar Jackson, the two-time NFL MVP, was the most dynamic rushing quarterback of all time. Derrick Henry, the two-time NFL rushing leader, was the most dominant pure rusher of his generation. Pairing them was a fantasy football dream made manifest.

Defenses would be trapped in an impossible conundrum: crash the edges to contain Jackson, and Henry would gash you up the middle for 20 yards. Stack the box to stop Henry, and Jackson would exploit a single high safety for a long touchdown pass or a breathtaking scramble. It was a symbiotic football relationship that promised nothing short of offensive tyranny.

The 2024 season did, in fact, deliver on much of that promise. The Ravens’ offense was, at times, breathtakingly potent. Henry, defying the actuarial tables that dictate a running back’s decline, racked up over 1,300 all-purpose yards and found the end zone 15 times.

He was the same brutal, tackle-breaking force, a player whose fourth quarter carries felt like a death knell for weary opponents. Lamar Jackson had one of his most efficient passing seasons, undoubtedly aided by the play-action game that Henry’s mere presence on the field enabled.

The Ravens secured a playoff berth, and for much of the year, they looked every bit the Super Bowl favorite they were projected to be.

The Anatomy of a Shocking Split: Reading Between the Financial Lines

So, why would a team willingly dismantle such a potent, theoretically perfect partnership? The answer lies not in the emotion of the game, but in the cold, binary language of the NFL’s salary cap and long-term team building.

General Manager Eric DeCosta, a protégé of the legendary Ozzie Newsome, has always operated with a “next play” mentality, constantly balancing the present’s demands with the future’s necessities. Let’s dissect the multifaceted reasoning behind this monumental call.

 The Salary Cap Calculus:
The NFL’s salary cap is a brutal, zero-sum game. Every dollar committed to one player is a dollar unavailable for another.

Derrick Henry’s contract, while structured as team-friendly initially, carried significant cap hits in its subsequent years. For the 2025 season, Henry was due a base salary of $9 million, with a total cap hit north of $11 million.

In a vacuum, that number for a player of Henry’s caliber might seem reasonable. But in the context of the Ravens’ broader financial picture, it becomes a monumental figure.

The Ravens have a litany of critical contracts to address. The focus, first and foremost, is on securing the long-term future of the franchise, which means extending the contract of Lamar Jackson again to ensure he retires a Raven, a deal that will likely reset the quarterback market.

Furthermore, foundational pieces like All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton and Pro Bowl defensive tackle Justin Madubuike are entering the final years of their rookie contracts and are in line for massive, market-setting extensions.

The $11 million saved by moving on from Henry is not just a number; it’s the foundational capital for Hamilton’s new deal, or a significant portion of Madubuike’s, or the money needed to bolster a suddenly thin offensive line in free agency.

 The Depreciating Asset Model:
The running back position in the modern NFL is treated by front offices as a depreciating asset, much like a car driving off the lot.

The physical toll is immense, and the historical data is unforgiving: running backs on the wrong side of 30 experience a precipitous decline in production.

Derrick Henry will be 31 years old at the start of the 2025 season. While he defied gravity in 2024, the risk of a sudden, dramatic drop-off increases exponentially with every carry.

For a team like Baltimore, which prides itself on sustainable success, investing a significant portion of its cap space in a 31-year-old running back is seen as a dangerous, and potentially franchise-hampering, gamble.

The “Moneyball” approach, which the Ravens have adeptly applied to football, suggests that production at the running back position can be found for a fraction of the cost.

The model points to teams like the San Francisco 49ers, who consistently field a dominant rushing attack with mid-round draft picks and system-fit players.

By drafting a running back in the third or fourth round—where the Ravens have historically found immense success with players like J.K. Dobbins and Keaton Mitchell—they can inject youth, speed, and cost-controlled talent into the backfield for the next four years, all for a cap hit less than $1.5 million annually.

 The Scheme and Longevity Argument:
While the Henry-Jackson duo was fearsome, there was an underlying sense that the offense had to adapt, perhaps even simplify, to fully utilize Henry.

His skillset is specific: he is a downhill, I-formation back who thrives with a full head of steam. The Ravens’ offense under Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken is at its most dynamic when it operates with spread concepts, RPOs (Run-Pass Options), and a diverse array of screen passes to multiple targets.

There was a stylistic friction at times, a sense that the offense was alternating between “Lamar’s plays” and “Derrick’s plays,” rather than achieving a seamless fusion.

Moving forward, the Ravens may believe that a younger, more versatile, and more explosive back—one who is a legitimate threat in the passing game and can operate more effectively from the shotgun—could make the entire offense more unpredictable and efficient.

Imagine a back with the pass-catching chops of a Christian McCaffrey or Alvin Kamara, paired with Jackson’s accuracy on check-downs and screens.

The threat becomes multi-dimensional on every single play, rather than situationally so. This isn’t a slight on Henry’s greatness, but an acknowledgment that a different skillset might unlock an even higher ceiling for Lamar Jackson and the passing game.

The Ripple Effects: How This Decision Reshapes the NFL

The release of Derrick Henry will send shockwaves far beyond the confines of the Ravens’ training facility in Owings Mills. The aftershocks will be felt in free agency war rooms, draft boards, and locker rooms across the league.

 The 2025 Free Agent Frenzy:
Instantly, Derrick Henry becomes the most high-profile, box-office name on the free agent market. His availability will create a bidding war among contending teams with a specific need for a short-yardage and goal-line hammer. Obvious potential suitors immediately spring to mind:

The Dallas Cowboys: Always in the market for a star and needing to re-establish a physical identity.

The Los Angeles Chargers: Under Jim Harbaugh, they want to run the ball with a vengeance. Henry alongside Justin Herbert would be a terrifying proposition.

The Chicago Bears: If they want to ease a rookie quarterback into the league, what better way than by handing the ball to Derrick Henry 25 times a game?

A Return to the Tennessee Titans? A sentimental, and perhaps football-savvy, reunion could be in the cards if the price is right.

The Ravens’ New Blueprint:

For Baltimore, this move signals a clear philosophical shift. The era of the “bell-cow” back is officially over. The Ravens will almost certainly enter the 2025 season with a running-back-by-committee approach.

Look for them to target a dynamic, pass-catching back in the draft—a player like Texas’ Jonathon Brooks or Tennessee’s Jaylen Wright—and pair him with the explosive Keaton Mitchell, provided he recovers fully from his own significant injury. This approach is cheaper, more versatile, and arguably more sustainable over a grueling 17-game season.

Furthermore, this decision screams that the Ravens will be major players in the wide receiver market, either via the draft or free agency.

The cap savings from Henry’s deal could be directly funneled into securing a true, established WR1 to pair with Zay Flowers, finally giving Lamar Jackson the elite, consistent receiving weapon his critics have long said he lacked.

The Final Nail for the “Premium Running Back” Coffin?

This move is perhaps the most powerful data point yet in the ongoing devaluation of the running back position.

If a future Hall of Famer like Derrick Henry, coming off a 1,300-yard season, playing in a perfect schematic fit with an MVP quarterback, is deemed expendable for financial reasons, what hope is there for any running back seeking a major second or third contract?

The collective bargaining agreement has rendered the position increasingly disposable, and the Ravens, a perennial playoff team, are simply following the most logical, if ruthless, path to sustained contention.

A Legacy of Greatness and a Future of Uncertainty

In the end, the Derrick Henry experiment in Baltimore will be remembered as a magnificent, thrilling, yet ultimately fleeting chapter.

For one season, fans were treated to the spectacle of two of the game’s most electrifying talents sharing a backfield, a partnership that delivered highlight-reel moments and a dominant regular season.

Derrick Henry conducted himself with professionalism and power, his legacy as one of the most physically imposing runners in NFL history firmly intact.

But the NFL is a business, and the Baltimore Ravens, under the leadership of Eric DeCosta, have made a business decision.

It is a decision rooted in a profound belief in their drafting ability, a deep commitment to their financial principles, and an unwavering focus on the long-term championship window of Lamar Jackson.

It is a bold, calculated, and undeniably risky gamble. They are betting that the sum of the parts they can acquire with Henry’s money—a young running back, a key defensive extension, an offensive line reinforcement—will be greater than the whole of a single, aging superstar.

The throne in Baltimore is vacant. The King has departed. And as the shock subsides, the entire NFL world will be watching, with bated breath, to see if the Ravens’ gamble makes them wiser, or poorer, for the crown they’ve willingly surrendered.