Derrick Henry is one of those guys who could probably drag an entire defense on his back and still pick up five yards. You’d think that kind of dominance would come with a paycheck that screams “superstar,” right? Well, not exactly. While QBs are out here, signing deals that could fund a small country and WRs are getting paid like Hollywood A-listers, running backs—especially the workhorses like Henry—are stuck playing in an entirely different economy.

Sure, Saquon Barkley’s latest contract extension worth $41.2 million for a couple of years with the Eagles would be a sigh of relief for the RB market. But in the case of 31-year-old Henry, a lucrative deal is far from sight. And that’s a major concern for the NFL contracts and salary cap expert Joel Corry.

You see, on Thursday, Corry appeared on the Ross Tucker Podcast where he talked about Barkley’s two-year contract extension with the Super Bowl champs. At first, he was surprised with that deal considering the RB played for just one year with the team. Later, he admitted that Derrick Henry is absolutely underpaid in that sense. “Yeah, I was a little surprised they did it as well because he’s only played one year. You could say it was the greatest running back season in NFL history,” he said. “All this has done to me is confirm that Derrick Henry is extremely underpaid.”

Now, let’s be real—Henry’s been in the league for almost a decade now. After playing for 8 seasons with the Titans, the Ravens signed him on a 2-year deal in the last season. And let’s just say his contract was almost negligible with just $16M. Besides, the guy joined the Ravens’ active roster after averaging nearly 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns per season for over 8 seasons with the Titans. Still, the Baltimore team offered him a $16M deal.

To put that simply, Corry compared his contract with the 49ers‘ running back, Christian McCaffery. “There was a running back last year who was the best running back in 2023, who had two years left on his contract, and got a new deal. Chris McCaffrey’s extension averaged $19 million per year,” he added. See, the 49ers offered McCaffery a two-year contract extension worth $38M before the 2024 season, after he played one and a half season for the San Francisco team.

Of course, the Eagles might have considered the same thing with Barkley. But that’s neither the case for the Ravens nor for Henry. He just recorded another best season against his name after falling just shy of 2,000 yards and racking up 16 touchdowns. Now, the 31-year-old RB is in contract year, and the Ravens are probably going to address his contract soon—at least that’s what Joel Corry believes.

“He’s (Henry) in a contract year. I suspect the Ravens are going to address his contract before the regular season starts,” he further added. But one thing’s certain: Saquon Barkley’s surpassed Henry by quite a margin. Whether it’s in rushing yards or in money game.

Saquon Barkley’s the highest paid RB

After having arguably the best season of his career, Saquon Barkley just signed a contract extension worth $41.2M with the Eagles. And yeah, you guessed that totally right. With that contract, Barkley’s now the highest-paid running back in the 2025 season with an average annual salary of over $20M per season. That said, he’s the first RB to ever sign a contract worth over $20M per year.

Well, the way Barkley performed in the last season, a hefty contract was already on the cards from the Eagles. The 28-year-old RB rushed for 2,005 yards and 13 touchdowns in the regular season. With that, he became only the 9th player to rush for over 2,000 yards in a season. Besides, he finished his Super Bowl run with the most rushing yards in an NFL season with 2,504 yards (including playoffs).

If we compare it to Derrick Henry’s contract, no wonder Barkley surpassed him with an impressive margin of $25.2M. However, let’s not forget that Henry is in the contract year. And after recording one of the best seasons of his career, it’s likely the Ravens will offer him a well-deserving contract extension.

As for Barkley, the Eagles basically rewarded him for his performance. Plus, the Super Bowl champions confirmed that Saquon Barkley will stay in the Eagles’ jersey.