NFL RB market rebound: How Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs and Derrick Henry can show their worth for new teams

This is Part 6 of NFL Thursday Thoughts, a big-picture series of key topics heading into the season. While quarterbacks and wide receivers spent the offseason raking in huge deals, running backs quietly got nice deals for themselves. Three in particular joined teams with legitimate high hopes. Here’s what they bring:

It was the summer of discontent for running backs in 2023. Their market flatlined. None of the three franchise-tagged tailbacks — Josh Jacobs, Saquon Barkley and Tony Pollard — received long-term deals. Jonathan Taylor got permission to seek a trade amid several issues, including his contract, and he missed the first four games of the season on the PUP list before eventually receiving a three-year, $42 million extension. Taylor, Derrick Henry and Austin Ekeler were among the loudest voices advocating for their position to be valued more. They even had a Zoom session.

This summer wasn’t perfect, but it was better. Barkley, Jacobs, Henry and D’Andre Swift all received at least $8 million per year from new teams. Christian McCaffrey got a raise, and Rhamondre Stevenson got an extension.

According to Spotrac, the NFL handed out nearly $250 million in total money to running backs this offseason, with over $120 million of that guaranteed. Last year, those numbers were $145 million and $53 million. This year certainly had more top-end talent, but it was at least a step in the right direction for a position group that had felt wronged a year before.

Running backs will never be valued as they’d like to be. It’s a brutal position health-wise, and second contracts — the ones that really make players money — often come right around the fall-off age (perceived and, in many cases, proven). Five running backs have contracts averaging at least $10 million per year; center (four) is the only major position with fewer.

Still, the top-end players who got paid this offseason will shape…

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Author : Zachary Pereles

Publish date : 2024-08-15 14:33:52

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