An option that could still be on the table.
Either he accepts the QO and has one season at a higher AAV or he rejects it and you continue to negotiate anyway or move on to someone else in this lackluster free agent group.
But if the goal is to keep him at a lower AAV, and the fear is he’d accept a QO, that really is the “worst case scenario” under those conditions. And it’s not a bad case at all, especially if Henry allows for higher payroll…