It’s really kind of depressing to watch how undervalued these guys careers truly are. With Saquon Barkley, Tony Pollard, and Josh Jacobs unable to come to a long-term deal with their, respective, teams, the state of the NFL running back market really has never been so dire.
Maybe the running backs should go on strike like the Hollywood actors and writers LOL!
Despite being two of the best running backs in the league and one of them last season’s leading rusher, neither Giants’ RB Saquon Barkley, Cowboys’ RB Tony Pollard, nor Raiders’ RB Josh Jacobs were able to work out a long-term deal with their, respective, teams as the running back market has completely dried up. And, to be honest, this might become a massive issue for the NFL.
I really can’t believe that a trio of running backs who accounted for 828 rushing attempts, 3,972 rushing yards, 34 total touchdowns, 3 Pro Bowl appearances, 1 1st-Team All-Pro nod, and even had one of them lead the league in rushing (Josh Jacobs: 1,653 yards) couldn’t get anything more than a 1-year, $10.1M franchise tag from their, respective, teams.
Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs, and Tony Pollard are three of the Top-10 running backs in football right now (with Barkley and Jacobs arguably being the two best rushers alongside Derrick Henry) and all three of them were vital to their teams successes last season (well, the Raiders didn’t do much, but Jacobs was the sole redeeming light in that offense), yet none of them are worth a multi-year, $12M+ contract? Seriously?
I know teams have really soured on running backs of late and have viewed them as less valuable than a team’s backup fullback, but it’s shocking how the Giants, Cowboys, and Raiders couldn’t give these guys a multi-year, $12M+ deal in line with the rest of the league.
I mean, the bar is already really low for how much a running back is worth nowadays with Christian McCaffrey, who is also up there with Henry, Jacobs, and Barkley, being the highest paid RB in football at just $16M/season. Perhaps running backs shouldn’t be paid more than a wide receiver or a quarterback (well, definitely a quarterback), but the highest paid RB shouldn’t be making just $1M more/season than the 20th highest paid wide out (Browns’ Courtland Sutton: $15M/year).
These guys contributed to nearly 4,000 yards of offense, nearly 35 TDs, nearly 1,000 plays, and helped the Cowboys (in Pollard’s case) and Giants (in Barkley’s case) reach the Divisional Round of the NFC playoffs. And this is how they get treated? Not even worthy of $11-$15M contract…which would put them anywhere from the 20th highest paid wide receiver to the 25th highest paid wide out.
I don’t want to sound like some running back union boss or anything, but why would anyone wish to play one of the most dangerous, hard-hitting, and valuable pieces to an offense when they not only are getting paid peanuts what the other skills positions are making, but also get treated like vermin in the media and by their own teams.
How many times a day do you hear in the media “running backs don’t matter”, “running backs are a dime a dozen”, or “running backs don’t deserve long term deals”? A lot, right?
Well, given how copycat the NFL is, it makes sense why all of the teams have suddenly soured on the market and aren’t even willing to pay the best running backs in the league a third of what most QBs make nowadays. Sure, running backs generally have shorter careers than most other positions given how much contact they have on every play, but have these teams all forgotten the history of the position?
Perhaps I’m misremembering, but there have been 7 running backs/fullbacks to win the Super Bowl MVP trophy (the 3rd most of any single position), there are 56 running backs/fullbacks/QB-RB hybrids in the Hall of Fame (the most by any position), there are 31 running backs to rush for over 10k+ yards in NFL history, and there were 16 running backs last season to reach 1k rushing yards (and 22 receivers t0 reach the same milestone).
I’m not saying that running backs are more valuable than quarterbacks or receivers by any means, but I’m quite clearly saying that running backs are worth far more than the peanuts they’re being paid right now. And these guys are going to realize that at some point and strike against the NFL and the franchises because the NFL rookie contract system and the franchise tag system screws them during their shelf lives.
And that’s going to be a disaster for the NFL when this eventually boils over.
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