Running back Derrick Henry’s status with Titans fans after eight seasons with Tennessee isn’t lost on the NFL team’s general manager.

Ran Carthon said it’s something to keep in mind when deciding if the Titans will try to prevent the former Alabama All-American from reaching free agency.

“It weighs, because I hear that question around town a lot,” Carthon said on Tuesday during a press conference at the NFL Scouting Combine. “People will come and the first thing they’ll say is, ‘Hey, we’re not going to lose Derrick are we?’ I think I probably, in my 12 months on this job, have gotten more Derrick Henry questions than anything, so I understand that piece of it, too.

“But I have a responsibility to build this team long-term, and, like I said, we’ll cross that bridge with Derrick and his team when we get there.”

That bridge is fast approaching. After completing a four-year, $50 million contract, Henry is scheduled to become a free agent at 3 p.m. CDT March 13.

“Derrick and I had a good conversation on the way out,” Carthon said, “and he knows where we are and we know where he is. I think you guys that have been around here know that we don’t really talk about a player’s contract status in public. But we’ll be well-positioned to do whatever we need to do. Whenever those conversations are needed to be had, we’ll have them with Derrick and his team.”

After winning the Heisman Trophy for Alabama’s CFP national-championship team for the 2015 season, Henry joined Tennessee in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He spent two seasons as DeMarco Murray’s backup before becoming the Titans’ starting running back in 2018.

After a 1,000-yard showing in 2018, Henry has led the NFL in rushing attempts in four of the past five seasons, and he finished 10th in 2019 even though he missed nine games with a broken foot. He also finished first or second in the NFL in rushing yards four times during that span (placing ninth in 2019) and became the eighth player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season in 2020.

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But the Titans are in a tailspin. Tennessee lost its final seven games of the 2022 season to finish at 7-10, and the Titans went 6-11 in 2023.

That has brought a new coach to the Titans with former Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan taking the reins.

Callahan has not met with Henry since being named the head coach.

“I think that there’s a great relationship with him and the organization that I know he’s always going to have the Titans in his heart,” Callahan said on Tuesday. “Whatever that looks like moving forward, we’ll keep working through it. But I know what he means to the city and the team, and I’m looking forward to getting to know him.”

Contract extensions and franchise-tag designations could change the lineup before March 13, but as of now Henry will be part of a deep pool of free-agent running backs that will include former Alabama standouts Josh Jacobs and Damien Harris as well as Saquon Barkley, Austin Ekeler, Tony Pollard, Gus Edwards, D’Andre Swift and Ezekiel Elliott, among others.

When Henry spoke about his prospects of returning to the Titans, the running back didn’t sound hopeful on Jan. 9, the day Tennessee fired head coach Mike Vrabel.

“I’m not saying it’s closed,” Henry said. “But I just feel like, like I said earlier, they’re going in a different direction. I feel like today definitely solidified that. And that’s OK. That happens. That’s the nature of the business. We want something to last forever. Nothing does, especially in this business. I’ll always be a Titan, even if I don’t come back.

“But at the end of the day, I want to win the Super Bowl, and wherever that is that gives me the best chance, that’s what I want to do. I don’t have no bad blood or feel no type of way if I’m not back. It’s just what was supposed to happen. The story’s already written. We’re all just living it.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.