ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys needed a running back this offseason after losing Pro Bowler Tony Pollard to the Tennessee Titans in free agency.
Arguably the best running back of the past decade, four-time Pro Bowler Derrick Henry, was available on the open market. Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones claimed on Sunday the team "couldn't afford Derrick Henry" because of cap space. That was after the 2020 NFL Offensive Player of the Year ran over the Dallas defense to the tune of 151 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries for an eye-popping 6 yards per carry in a 28-25 Baltimore win.
Henry, 30, signed a two-year, $16 million deal with the Ravens, something the Cowboys could have had the cap space for had they re-signed both All-Pro quarterback Dak Prescott (four years, $240 million) and All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (four years, $136 million) in March instead of late August in the case of Lamb and hours before kickoff in Week 1 in the case of Prescott. Henry himself was surprised the Cowboys didn't show interest in him since he trains in downtown Dallas at SandersFit in the offseason.
That's why Henry's 12th career game with 150 or more rushing yards and two or more rushing touchdowns, tied for the second-most in NFL history, felt a little more special to the bruising running back at AT&T Stadium in Week 3.
"I hold myself to a high standard," Henry said postgame on Sunday. "I definitely wanted to come out here and be able to have an impact to give us a chance to win by the way I played. I feel like the first two weeks I kind of got going a little slow. But like I said, we're all tied in together, and we all just want to come out here and execute and be able to win – and we did that today. Being in Dallas – this is where the offseason is [for me and] where I spend most of my time in the offseason. It felt a little good today for sure."
Dallas' running back committee approach led by undrafted veteran Rico Dowdle, a late stage Ezekiel Elliott and 2023 sixth-round pick Deuce Vaughn only mustered 51 rushing yards on 16 carries for a measly 3.2 yards per carry. Safe to say Henry is heading back to Baltimore with a smile on his face.
"I don't know that today I would point at any at any position that might have made that difference out there today," Jones said postgame on Sunday. "I think overall we had a lot of areas that we can play better in. However, we did do some good things At the end. Our offense, I thought we would have more, more productivity really in our offense."