“I’m comfortable now. I’m right at home.” That’s what Derrick Henry said when he joined the Ravens last season, excited to share the field with Lamar Jackson. And honestly, the RB lived up to the hype. He finished second in the league in rushing yards, just behind Super Bowl champ Saquon Barkley. Baltimore’s offense ranked number 1 in the latest season, with an average of 424.9 yards per game. Of course, Henry was a huge reason for this success. But now it looks like Henry and the Ravens might have a contract situation brewing.

Derrick signed a two-year, $16 million deal with the Ravens in 2024. With one year down, contract negotiations might be right around the corner. Last week, when asked about the extension talks, HC John Harbaugh said, “It’s definitely in the conversation. I know that’s been talked about, and yes, I’d love to see that get done as well.” Now, on Tuesday, GM Eric DeCosta shared the latest update on the RB’s extension.

Speaking at the team’s end-of-season press conference, DeCosta sounded like he was in no hurry to get a deal done with Derrick. “We have a lot of different balls in the air right now. That’s probably what I would say on that. You know I’m not going to talk about what we’re doing, 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.” A classic diplomatic response.

After that, Eric shifted attention to what the team’s other priorities were. He stated that the team is preparing for the draft, checking out free agents, and trying to re-sign their own key players. “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.” A big challenge, indeed.

And the translation? We have a lot on our plates. And while we’d love to keep guys like Derrick, we’re not promising anything just yet. At the conference, the media also asked the GM about kicker Justin Tucker.

Ravens GM confirms Justin Tucker plans moving forward

This year in January, 16 women accused Justin Tucker of misconduct. The Baltimore Banner published a firsthand testimony from six women. The league then spoke with three of the 16 women who accused Justin of inappropriate behavior. Until now, the league has not provided any updates on the matter. When the media asked Commissioner Roger Goodell at the league meetings, he said, “I haven’t gotten an update. I know the review is ongoing. We won’t be giving updates, but when we have something, we’ll certainly share it with everyone.” All are waiting for that update, though. 

On Tuesday, the media asked Eric DeCosta if the Ravens would look into picking a new placekicker since Tucker had ongoing allegations. The GM shared, “I think it’s worth it, sure.” Justin has called the allegations against him “unequivocally false.” The 35-year-old has been on the Ravens’ squad for more than a decade. “It’s worth it if you have the right kicker. It just depends on the board, it depends on the player, and it depends on how the coaches see him… There’s no blueprint for finding a kicker, except you have to be able to evaluate the kicker,” DeCosta added.

For now, DeCosta does not have any concrete answers on how they are going to approach the kicker situation. And what if the NFL bans Tucker? “I never have any expectations because you don’t know how the thing’s gonna unfold,” he said.

Well, it will be interesting to see how the Ravens navigate their kicker situation amid all this chaos.