It appears as though the Baltimore Ravens' plan with running back Derrick Henry is for him to not get the much-speculated-about Saquon Barkley-like contract extension any time soon.
Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said so at his pre-draft press conference Wednesday afternoon.
"We have a lot of different balls in air right now," DeCosta said, via the team's official transcript. "That's probably what I would say on that. I'm not going to talk about what we're doing [or] what we're not doing behind the scenes business-wise with these guys. I don't think it's good for me to do that, but I would say that aside from the draft, as you all know, we're looking at guys that are still available, free agents on the street. We're looking at re-signing our own guys.
"We're blessed to have a bunch of really good players, and we're going to try and keep as many of those guys as we can. It's a challenge."
We don't have to take that as an official "no.'' But it's quite clearly at least an official "not yet.''
Henry inked a two-year, $16 million contract with the Ravens before last season in free agency. He is set to earn $6 million in base salary this season.
There were questions entering last year whether the five-time Pro Bowler had too much tread worn off his tires. Henry silenced those queries with thunder.
Henry torched opponents for 1,921 yards and a league-high 16 touchdowns on 325 carries. His rushing total would normally have led the league if it were not for Barkley's 2,005 almost record breaking season.
Henry's deal is, in short, a massive bargain for the Ravens.
Barkley was rewarded with a two-year, $41.2 million extension early in the offseason by the Philadelphia Eagles. Henry, 31, is waiting for the Ravens to make a decision after the draft as to whether or not they want to extend his deal.
But the decision is clearly on the Baltimore back burner for now.
