Tight end Hunter Henry will not hit the open market. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Los Angeles Chargers used the franchise tag on the tight end. Assuming he signs, deal keeps Henry with the team through the 2020 season. Henry has spent all four seasons of his career with the Los Angeles Chargers.
Sources: The #Chargers have franchise tagged TE Hunter Henry, keeping a key playmaker in the fold for another year.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 13, 2020
Hunter Henry Gets Franchise Tagged
Hunter Henry is coming off a nice bounce-back season following an ACL injury the prior year, and he set multiple personal records. Despite missing four games, he finished with 55 receptions for 652 yards (both career highs) and five touchdowns. He’s been one of the NFL’s rising stars at the tight end position.
Henry played in college for the Arkansas Razorbacks for three years. During that time, he made the All-SEC all three years from 2013-2015. In 2016 he was drafted early in the second round (35th overall) by the Chargers, while they were still in San Diego.
Opportunities early on in his career were slightly limited by the fact that he was playing alongside Antonio Gates, but he still put up some good numbers. In his rookie season, he had eight touchdowns. This was the fifth most by a rookie tight end in NFL history. 2017 saw him continue to make plays, however his season was cut short in December with a lacerated kidney.
2018 was disastrous for him as he tore his ACL very early on OTA’s. Initially, he was ruled out for the entire season. However, he recovered relatively quickly and while he did indeed miss all of the regular season, he was active for the team’s Divisional playoff game against the New England Patriots. However, he was very sparingly used and ultimately finished with zero catches. He had another injury early to start the 2019 season. But once he returned, he remained healthy and had a good year.
Henry thus far has 136 receptions for 1,709 yards and 17 touchdowns. His reception and receiving yardage numbers have increased every year since he entered the league (not including the lost 2018 season). He’ll be looking to keep that going in 2020.
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