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Why Dalvin Cook and the NFL's top running backs will be facing reduced paydays
Because there are so many good NFL running backs, Dalvin Cook included, teams can find them almost anywhere.
sportsnaut.com
Why Dalvin Cook and the NFL’s top running backs will be facing reduced paydays
Dalvin Cook, released last week, by the Minnesota Vikings, wants big money when he signs his next contract.So does Josh Jacobs. Saquon Barkley, too.
Only a hater would suggest they don’t deserve it. After all, Cook has had four consecutive 1,100 yard seasons, Jacobs led the NFL with 1,653 yards last season, while Barkley rushed for a career-high 1,312 yards.
But it’s probably not going to happen this year. Or any other year.
The Las Vegas Raiders have placed the franchise tag on Jacobs, and the New York Giants have done the same to Barkley, meaning each will earn $10.1 million. That’s less than half of what an average quarterback like the Las Vegas Raiders’ Jimmy Garoppolo will make next season.
The game has changed.
Once upon a time, running backs ruled the NFL. The game revolved around runners, and kids wanted to be Jim Brown, Walter Payton, Eric Dickerson, or Emmitt Smith depending on when they grew up.
In the past 11 seasons, 2012 is the only year where the NFL had more than two players with more than 300 carries, which used to be the norm for star running backs. Smith had more than 300 carries in eight of his first 10 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys.
These days, kids want to be Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes or Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow, or New York’s Aaron Rodgers. That’s because quarterbacks rule today’s NFL. The game is about passing, and many of the rule changes over the past 30-40 years have been designed to either make it easier to pass or to protect quarterbacks.
The primary reason NFL running backs probably won’t ever see big-money paydays again is because too many good ones exist. Teams no longer have to draft a running back in the first round to get an elite runner. You can find them anywhere, so there’s no need to pay big money to running backs.
Occasionally, we’ll be blessed with an Adrian Peterson or some other back who captures our imagination. That player will be the outlier who gets paid, and the others will have to accept what’s offered.
Fifteen running backs gained more than 1,000 yards last season; only five were taken in the first round, five were drafted in the second round, and five were selected in the fourth or fifth round.
“I want the value. I want somebody that values Dalvin Cook. I want somebody that wants me to be there. Someone who wants to give me the ball,” Cook said Tuesday on the Rich Eisen Show. “The money is going to come. You play good and they are going to pay you.”
Not really.
The issue, for Dalvin Cook, is that he turned 27 in April and running backs traditionally lose their effectiveness at 28, so getting a long-term deal with considerable guaranteed money will be tough. He also had surgery in April to repair a torn labrum.
On Saturday morning, Jacobs hinted on Twitter that he might not report to training camp without a new long-term deal.
“Sometimes it’s not about you. We gotta do it for the ones after us,” he Tweeted.
Barkley has considered not signing the tender and skipping training camp and potentially the portion of the season until he gets a new deal. While that’s his right, it’s unlikely to help him get the lucrative long-term deal he desires.
While he was terrific last season, Barkley played in only 28 of a possible 48 games from 2019-2021 and averaged just 58.3 yards per game.
“It’s a business,” Barkley said. “That’s the sad reality of it. I never thought it would have to be this difficult, come to this point, but I got tagged. And when you get tagged, they have all the leverage.”
Besides, his replacement — like seemingly every running back these days — is too easy to find.
