Derrick Henry Wants 'Best Shot' at Super Bowl in FA Ahead of Possible Titans Exit

Star running back Derrick Henry is headed for free agency this offseason, and it's likely his time with the Tennessee Titans has come to an end.

Henry recently addressed his future during an appearance on the Bussin' With the Boys podcast (h/t ProFootballTalk's Josh Alper), saying that he hopes to sign with a franchise that gives him the best chance to win a championship:

"I want to be somewhere that, whatever happens, that gives me the best shot of winning the Super Bowl. The business side is the business side. At the end of the day, it has to make sense. I'm not just going to accept anything because it's a long season, we put our bodies through a lot. But at the same time, I definitely want to be on a roster that can go out there and put ourselves in position and be able to win games, get in the playoffs and contend for a ring."

Henry also revealed during the podcast that he was close to being traded ahead of the NFL's Oct. 31 deadline.

"I felt like it was close," Henry said, per Jordan Dajani of CBS Sports. "It was close. It was close, boys. It was close."

When asked what team he was going to be traded to and if that franchise made the playoffs this year, Henry added, "Yeah, I know two for sure. The other one, I don't know if that would have happened. But one of them, I felt like it was pretty close. A lot went down between ... that little saga with the trade."

It's possible one of those teams was the No. 1-seeded Baltimore Ravens.

Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey said on his Punch Line podcast in November (beginning at the 5:30 mark), that he received a text message from a source who said Henry being traded to Baltimore was "85 percent" close to happening.

Henry ended up closing out the year with the Titans, and following the team's victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 18 at Nissan Stadium, he thanked the fans for "the greatest eight years of my life," signaling that he would be moving on this winter.

"The ups and the downs, y'all have been there for everything. Through the adversity, watching me grow as a person and a player, always supporting me. I love y'all. I love seeing the 22s in the stadium," Henry said. "Hopefully I was an inspiration to all the young kids and everybody in the community. Just, thank y'all so much. God is good, and Titan up, baby."

The Titans selected Henry in the second round of the 2016 draft out of Alabama, and he quickly became one of the best running backs in the NFL.

In his eight seasons with the Titans, Henry earned an Offensive Player of the Year award, four Pro Bowl selections and one First Team All-Pro honor.

Additionally, he recorded five seasons of 1,000-plus rushing yards and became the first running back since Adrian Peterson in 2012 to rush for at least 2,000 yards in a season when he accomplished the feat in 2020. Only eight running backs in NFL history have ever rushed for 2,000 yards in a season.

Henry put together a solid 2023 season despite Tennessee finishing with fourth in the AFC South with a 6-11 record. He rushed for 1,167 yards and 12 touchdowns in 17 games, in addition to catching 28 passes for 214 yards.

While it's unclear where Henry will end up and which teams might have an interest in signing him in free agency, he figures to receive a sizable raise from the four-year, $50 million contract he signed in 2020 despite the running back market having depreciated since then.