Derrick Henry has always been a man among boys when he's on the field, but the star running back has taken his game to a more prolific level in his first season with the Baltimore Ravens. Following Week 7, Henry leads the NFL in every meaningful rushing statistic, including rushing yards, yards per rush, and rushing touchdowns. In fact, Henry is currently on pace for what would be an NFL-record 2,210 rushing yards for the season.
This tremendous start to the 2024 season has led to a lot of second-guessing among teams that did not bring Henry in, particularly the Dallas Cowboys. There was a clear need at running back in Dallas, and Henry reportedly had interest in the club this offseason. However, no such union came to pass, and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones previously cited the inability to pay Henry as the key crux of why he's not running around AT&T Stadium.
On Tuesday, after Henry rushed for 169 yards on "Monday Night Football," Jones appeared on 105.3 The Fan for his weekly spot and further discussed the non-pursuit of Henry. While he's having a stellar start to the year with Baltimore, Jones did question whether or not the Cowboys would've been getting the same product had they signed him.
"We're not playing very good football right now at all, and that's beyond whether or not we have Derrick Henry or not," Jones said Tuesday. "Derrick Henry is having a career year. I don't know if he'd be having that career year in our situation, and that's really something you really do have to look at. Because if he had not had as many carries as our running backs have had, then he certainly probably wouldn't have attained the level of impact he's had."
Henry has a league-leading 134 rushing attempts this season, while the Cowboys have 133 rushing attempts as a team.
Jones went on to add that the offenses that his Cowboys and Ravens run also would likely have altered his success rate.
"He's a real good complement to the type of offense [the Ravens] run," he continued. "We don't run that type of offense at all."
Jones again reiterated the financial component of not landing Henry in free agency.
"Derrick Henry didn't fit because, principally, of managing the cap," he said. "In anticipation of the players that we were going to sign weeks later or in anticipation of the players we're going to be signing in the future."
This season, the Cowboys are averaging 77.2 rushing yards per game, the worst mark in the NFL.