DALLAS — Prior to Derrick Henry signing with the Baltimore Ravens in March for a reported two-year, $16 million deal, all the buzz surrounded the All-Pro running back coming to the Cowboys.
Henry is known for living and working out in Dallas during the offseason, and had bought a house through realtor Leston Eustache. With the departure of Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard in recent years, signing a veteran of Henry's quality at the running back position would have addressed a roster need. And he already lives here ... it could have been a perfect marriage, right?!
Even Henry seemed to think so, according to recent comments Henry made on The Pivot Podcast.
One problem: Jerry didn't propose. He didn't even entertain a first date.
"[The Cowboys] ain't holla at me at all," Henry said when asked if Dallas was in the mix.
"It would've been crazy," Henry said of possibly playing for Dallas. "I thought it'd been some type of reach out, some type of talks or whatever. They never reached out, you know what I'm saying? I don't really know too much about their organization. All I know is what I hear. I was talking to my agent. They weren't really interested. It is what it is. Like I said earlier, I'm gonna be where I'm gonna be, and I feel like Baltimore was the perfect spot."
For Henry, Dallas seemed to serve as the most convenient logistical option.
"I knew once free agency started that I wanted to work something out [with the Ravens] if we could," Henry explained. "Even though I'm living in Dallas and Dallas being a perfect situation, as well, because we lived there, we ain't got to move. But at the same time, Ravens, the history of it, and then talking to Ray [Lewis] at the Pro Bowl, his passion about the organization, his impact there and how he talked about it. I was like, man, if I'm not in Tennessee or I don't get to go to Dallas, I'd love to be a Raven."
This all comes after the Cowboys owner pledged the team was going "all in" on the next season. Dallas has been cash strapped in the free agency period, and perhaps that could play a factor in the team "never reaching out." Maybe they figured they could not offer what the Ravens did, but extending its big name players like Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb could have opened up cap space to make such a move.
To date, Jerry and Stephen Jones have not finalized contracts with either player with seemingly no sense of urgency to do so, either.
The Cowboys only "outside" signing has been former Pro Bowl linebacker Eric Kendricks, who has ties to defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer with their time at the Minnesota Vikings. Dallas re-signed Rico Dowdle to their running back room, which also features seldom-used backups Deuce Vaughn, Snoop Conner and Malik Davis.
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