There was plenty of chatter, no doubt, about the notion of the Cowboys, seeking to make a big splash that could turn around their fortunes in after another NFL playoff disappointment last season, arranging their financial pieces in such a way that they could pursue and land star running back Derrick Henry, who was a free agent after having spent a stellar career in Tennessee.
Henry was interested in coming to Dallas, which clearly needed a bruising back after struggling with short-yard situations in one season with Tony Pollard as the sole featured back. Landing him would require the Cowboys to either restructure some current deals or, even better, sign new contracts either with quarterback Dak Prescott or receiver CeeDee Lamb before the start of free agency.
The Cowboys did neither, and made no move whatsoever to sign Henry, who landed with the Ravens on a two-year, $16 million contract.
On Sunday, after Henry gashed the Cowboys and led the Ravens with 151 yards on 25 carries, adding two touchdowns, team owner Jerry Jones brushed off—again—any notion of the Cowboys signing or ever wanting to sign Henry because, as he said (via reporter Joe Hoyt), “Why can’t you buy a mansion when you live in a different type of house? We couldn’t afford it. You can’t make that all fit. Simple as that.”
Cowboys Could Have Created Cap Space
That is, of course, a lie. It’s what Jones has been saying all along about Henry and the Cowboys, but it’s not true.
Technically, yes, the Cowboys did not have cap space on March 13, at the start of free agency, to sign Henry. But it would have been relatively simple to restructure a deal or two on the books to create the space for Henry, whose $16 million deal is not really even $8 million per year.
Henry got a signing bonus, according to Spotrac, of $7.8 million, which cut this year’s cap hit to $5.1 million.
That is not a difficult amount to conjure up for an NFL team. It would have been especially easy for Jones and the Cowboys to do so if they had re-signed either Lamb or Prescott—or, God forbid, both—early, which would have allowed the team to convert a significant portion of the first year of the new contract into a signing bonus and reduced each player’s cap number.
Instead, Jones and the Cowboys opted to pull together a running back committee led by the fast-declining Ezekiel Elliott, who racked up three carries and six yards on Sunday. Rico Dowdle led the RBs on the day with eight carries for 32 yards. In all, the Cowboys had 51 yards rushing on 16 carries.
Derrick Henry Loves Dallas
If there was any doubt about where Henry might have preferred to play, remember that he has a home in Dallas. And there was this bit of frustrating reporting from Jane Slater, of the NFL Network, who wrote on Twitter/X:
“Welp Derrick Henry told me he was looking forward to this one after wanting to play in Dallas. Lives and trains here in the offseason. Told me about 20 people in the stands to see him. Nice show today. 2 TDs, 133 scrimmage yards.”
The Cowboys now, through three games, have 221 yards rushing on 62 carries. Henry had almost 70% of that total in one game, on 25 carries. Too bad the Cowboys could not—ahem—afford a mansion like that.
