Last night, a group of the NFL’s veteran running backs got together on a Zoom call organized by Chargers rusher Austin Ekeler. There was a reportedly strong turnout of NFL-talent for a meeting that ultimately gained little ground. Mike Florio of NBC Sports was able to provide some details on what transpired during the meeting. 
According to Florio, despite some of the league’s best backs being in attendance, little progress was made towards a solution. The league’s current collective bargaining agreement is in place through 2030, and it doesn’t provide the running backs much leeway in their options. The NFL Players Association, which was not a part of the conversation last night, can’t necessarily contribute much to the conversation as, due to the nature of a league with a salary cap, giving money to running backs necessitates that money be taken from other positions.
That didn’t stop NFLPA president JC Tretter from suggesting in an interview that running backs could simply stage hold-ins by embellishing, exaggerating, or simply fabricating injuries. That suggestion was brought up on the call but quickly dismissed as it would feed “into the narrative that (running backs are) prone to injury.” It would also provide backs further down the depth chart an opportunity to prove they’re a better roster value than they’re more “injury-prone” counterparts.
Other ideas that could help the group include the use of the league’s Performance-Based Pay Pool to supplement running back income, shortening the position’s track to a second contract, or making adjustments to the franchise tag formula. Performance-Based Pay would reward the league’s top backs whose production exceeds their meager contracts. Shortening rookie contracts for running backs is a complicated solution that would likely require the NFLPA to negotiate on behalf of the running backs, which, again, can take away from other positions represented by the Association.
The franchise tag formula provides two possible solutions. The first would see the formula modified to simply increase the value of running back tags. The normal calculation would be increased to make tagging rushers a bit more costly of an option and force teams to explore second contracts with more dedication. The second solution is actually a bit of an extension on the first, suggesting a source for that increase. Currently, all offensive linemen’s franchise tag amounts are based on the contracts of tackles (the highest earning members of their position group). For this reason, interior linemen often don’t get tagged because they would be paid a tackle’s rate. If the league were to break up the offensive line into three categories (tackles, guards, centers), the interior linemen would no longer be receiving tackle-money, providing some wiggle room for running backs.
One of the players who attended the call was Browns running back Nick Chubb, who spoke to the media about the discussion, according to Jake Trotter of ESPN. Chubb confirmed that such elite athletes as Christian McCaffrey, Derrick Henry, and Saquon Barkley all attended and contributed to the conversation.
Chubb also elaborated on the feeling of being handcuffed in terms of what action can be taken. He expanded on a common complaint that running back is the only position whose production hurts them. If they go out and rush for 2,000 yards, instead of being rewarded, they are assumed to be worn down. Chubb is a year away from a contract year himself, but he fully recognizes that he could find himself in this situation during the next offseason.
Regardless, right now, without the help of the NFLPA, there isn’t much for running backs to do. Some backs pointed out that their own agents have contributed to the problem (agents were not on the call). Often, agents will backload ridiculous numbers into a contract that inflate the annual average value (AAV) to amounts that a running back will never see.
Saints rusher Alvin Kamara‘s contract is a perfect example. With an AAV of $15MM, Kamara has only seen that much money in the first year of his deal, when he received a $15MM signing bonus. In 2021, he only received $2MM cash and, for the three subsequent years, he earned/will earn between $11MM and $11.80MM cash. These numbers are all so much lower than the AAV because, in the final year of the contract, Kamara is set to receive $25MM cash. The chances of Kamara reaching that final, big payout are extremely low, but that amount made what was really a $10MM per year contract much more palatable.
The running backs need to ensure that their agents are on the same page about whatever strategies they decide to implement. Florio wisely points out that, while teams are not allowed to collude in regard to negotiating strategies, players and their agents absolutely have the right to collaborate.
The closest thing to a solution that can be had here is abolishing the tag, which the whole PA wants, but they will have to give the league a lot to get that done, and does the remainder of the PA care to deal with such a concession mostly for the sake of the RBs?
IMO the thing that would settle the whole problem would be, have a tiered system for QB,independent of the cap which would eliminate most of the problems that plague the the league now. That’s what the players give and the owners give, no franchise tag, and most importantly the entire cap has to be spent every year, meaning that whatever % of the cap player x has he gets that % of the cap until the the entire salary is spent!
In 2022, Josh Jacobs 53 receptions. Saquon Barkley 57 receptions. Dalvin Cook 39 receptions.
If you don’t want to pay them WR money, don’t throw them the ball. It’s nonsense that RB isn’t a “premium position” when these guys are literally the best playmakers on your offense, and acting as WRs. They are premium players. Jacobs and Barkley have more receptions than half the WRs in the league. Thinking you can just plug and play any RB and get the same output is insane. Jacobs got screwed over royally by the Raiders and he deserves to be cut loose.
Most of those receptions are check downs, you can’t equate a 10 or 20 yard pass to a Derek Carr or Kirk cousins doink pass
Sure you can. How many of these plug and play RBs do you trust to run routes, catch the ball, and not turn it over?
Except he’ll likely get paid less if they cut him loose now. Cap money is gone for the teams that are competitive and the bad teams will just run him into the ground. No-win situation.
If Jacobs were to become available, does Buffalo make cap room to get him?
Heck no. If a team signs a bad QB that goes onto their cap. There shouldn’t be a tiered system for QB’s.Here’s the list of top paid QB’s
1. Lamar: Overpay, injured the last 2 years & accuracy issues.
2. J Hurts: 1 great season on his resume.
3. Rodgers: At 40, he’s due $100m+.
4. Russ: Bust last year.
5. K Murray: No good seasons, couple of average ones.
6. Watson: Average last year, but great with the Texans.
7. Mahomes: Super star, 1st ballot HoF’er.
8. J Allen: Good to great QB.
9. D Jones: 1 decent season last year. 3 bad ones prior.
10. Stafford: Was always solid, but injured these days.
70% of that list is significant overpay, but those deals need to affect the roster. Just because GM’s and HC’s can’t identify quality play, doesn’t mean those contracts shouldn’t affect them.
If there was a tiered system where it was 52 man rosters plus a QB, they would double their salaries and still have bad QB play.
Outside of Murray and D Jones, which QB wouldn’t you want to have on your roster this season? Burrow and Herbert are going to get their $40M annual salaries very soon. Maybe you want Fields or Lawrence? Both are still unproven. If you want a talented QB, you have to pay for them.
Stafford for another 2 years. Lamar. Would have tagged Hurts. Rodgers. Russ. And like I said, we’ll see with Watson. Murray and Jones as you mentioned.
That’s well over 60% of the list. I’ld sign Burrow in a heartbeat. Herbert, we’ll see. Seems like a stat machine just not wins AKA a new Cousins.
I’m not sure what team you watch, but unless you’re a Bengals or Chiefs fan, you should want Lamar…. You should also check Burrow’s playoff wins since he’s such a winner… He’s been bailed out by the refs in 1 win, the kicker scoring every point in another, and by his defense making a last second fumble return on what should’ve been called a TD against a backup QB…..
Lamar was so unpopular that 31 teams passed on him. 2 1st for a franchise QB? Any day of the week. Both SF (Trey) & Carolina (Young) paid twice that amount to move up. Fully guaranteed deal, like Watson. Plenty of ways to scare off Baltimore.
Not a single team brought in him. To me, that speaks volumes.
Burrow been to 2 AFC championship games and 1 SB in 4 years. I’ll take that over a referee conspiracy.
Yeah you don’t understand what situation was at hand lol. How’d that work out for Lance in SF? (Guess what that was 3 years ago, has NOTHING to do with LJ8’s contract).
‘That speaks to you’ glad it speaks to arty! from his couch. Didn’t ONCE say he wanted fully guaranteed, hence why he didn’t sign a fully guaranteed contract. But hey, believe everything you read right??
0 SB wins. Jimmy G has been to 5 Championship games and 4 SBs, winning 2 of them, I guess everyone wants him too over Lamar by these credentials?
Unanimous MVP, Burrow has never.
Guess you missed the point. SF and Carolina gave up 2 1st’s plus more….See it now? Lamar had NFL game tape and not a single team even spoke to him.
My point is clear, if Lamar was worth being considered ‘franchise material’ the other teams would have traded for him. And Baltimore would never have let it get to this point.
But keep rooting for Jimmy G; that made my day! A backup getting SB rings? There’s thousands of those stories. Good joke, thanks I needed a laugh.
Blatant collusion by the league. Also, it’s not like if they DID offer him anything it was a sure thing. Remember the transition tag that allowed the Ravens to match any offer or is that just not a part of your memory? Even if someone did offer LJ8, they weren’t getting him. It was clearly getting matched…
You’re the one who claimed SB losses and AFC championships was some type of measurement of skill. Trent Dilfer is better than Burrow ever will be considering he has a SB even though he was carried by the best defense ever right?
Collusion? Not a single sports site reported that, except you. I don’t remember any collusion articles when Watson was a FA, do you? I remember about 3-4 teams speaking with him after 2 dozen alleged sexual charges. Forget that? To my knowledge, Lamar hasn’t had any off field problems to that magnitude. Even minor ones involving police.
And yes, winning is important. Its everything. Its legacy. Division titles, Championship games, and SB’s. Banners fly in all stadiums marking those accomplishments.
W/O googling which teams lost the champion games in 2020? I don’t know them. Do you think Peyton is glad he’s 2-2 vs Eli that 2-0 in SB’s?
Baltimore blinked first because last time they lost that bet. Do you remember that? Here’s refresher. They balked at paying Flaco at the end of his rookie contract, he won the SB and crushed it! Quick excerpt from the article.
“A deal this large for Flacco is a direct result of him winning Super Bowl MVP in a contract year.”.
Baltimore was afraid to gamble again. I would have though on Lamar. He can’t stay healthy. A full season to prove it to all 32 teams with current tape. And if he had won the SB this year on the tag, he could name his price. Tag and sign. that’s what the tag is there for.
link to bleacherreport.com
Watson never was a FA, so no those articles would’ve never existed…. It’s really hard to want to even reply when your second sentence is already not true….
Joe Burrow has missed 7 games, Lamar 9. InJuRy PrONe… He did name his price, and signed…. 135M later
Panthers, Saints, Falcons and Browns all spoke with Watson. How many spoke with Lamar? Watson got $230M guaranteed. Try again.
LOL. They spoke to the GM. Not Watson or his agent. Also, how’s that massive deal working out for the brownies? Last place finish is all but guaranteed again. TRY AGAIN
No. Watson canceled talks with other teams once the Browns made the deal. But believe what you want. Teams approached Watson about the deal, then made the trade. No one offered a trade prior to reaching an agreement. That hard to understand?
I look forward to your excuses this season about Lamar.
1. Bad O line.
2. Bad OC.
3. Bad Running game.
4. Bad WR’s.
5. Bad everything, but Lamar.
Have fun believing in your super hero!
Yeah because the NFL just allowed collusion and tampering by letting Watson talk to anyone right?
No excuses since I’m not even a Ravens fan, don’t watch them all year except 2 times vs my team. Still doesn’t change that you get on every post bashing Lamar when he’s better than nearly everyone you enjoy watching.
I’m believing your hero is Biden, you think like him.
Oh yeah and ‘no articles on collusion’
link to nbcsports.com
Those situations aren’t comparable. When you trade multiple 1st round picks for a rookie QB you’re possibly getting a franchise QB for very small contract.. Jackson would’ve required the picks and a huge payday
Burrow in a heartbeat over Herbert. Burrow is a winner, he has that determination, poise, and willpower that wins games. Haven’t seen that from Herbert. All I’ve seen from Herbert is the Jeff George syndrome.
Shortening RB rookie contracts would be a good one IMO. Get them onto a Tag salary and then into FA faster. A big problem right now is that by time the good ones reach FA, they have too much mileage on them and are close to declining with their shorter career spans.
But it’s the players, RB’s included, that demand long term security. For quality players, you never see 2-3 year deals. It’s always 4+ year deals. That’s on the players. With the way the cap rises, I wouldn’t want a 4 year deal at any position.
I dont see them abolishing the franchise tag. I do see them amending the tag to something similar to baseball where teams that lose free agents get draft pick compensation depending on how much the player earned (say an extra 1st if the player earned top 5 money based on position salary, extra 2nd if 6-10, etc) but team that signed them loses their 1st rounder if they’re a playoff team or 2nd rounder if they’re a non playoff team. Give teams right to match offer. No poison pill clauses allowed.
And the players union gives up a ton for that, like the previous poster said, its not very believable that non QB’s would be okay with losing that, for the benefit of only like two positions and hurting everyone else.
ItsKirsten That’s why the solution should specifically target RB’s, because it’s an issue specific to them. The current system doesn’t account for their uniquely shorter careers and peak years for production.
The other positions are fine.
That isn’t how *collective* bargaining works.
You will hurt everyone else in comparison by doing this.
There are less reliable and capable kickers than there are running backs, this is the nature of supply and demand, the new backs to set the market are goin to be elite pass catchers/pass blockers/intangible glue players
They are a complimentary piece in the modern NFL so not really anything they can do. No team is trading their franchise QB or even a wr for a rb and the league isn’t changing the rules to go back to involve more contact. Best thing these rb’s can do is learn to block and catch.
I get the idea of splitting the tags of tackles away from the rest of the offensive line and how that could benefit other positions, but I have a different idea. How about combining the tags of non-OL, non-QB skill position groups into one? If you tried to tag an FB, RB or TE, it would be at the WR rate. No one would tag an RB at close to $20M.
This is a waste of time. The CBA doesn’t expire until March of 2030. There’s nothing they can do until then. And, quite frankly, nothing should be done. It’s market forces at work. When teams can find quality starting RB’s in the middle rounds of the draft (or later) there’s no reason to pay top dollar for a free agent RB. Perhaps these RB’s should learn how to throw the ball and then they can be paid like a QB!
They should stop crying about what the league is or isn’t doing and focus on their own agents. Quit with the void years to artificially inflate AAV. Maybe push for more guaranteed money on the 2nd contract if certain benchmarks are hit.
RB’s find themselves in the same position as poor fielding, slug-only 1B in baseball. And they have kind of done it to themselves.
Did it to themselves? HTF did running backs change the rules of the league to favor bullshit passing offenses?
Since the cap isn’t going anywhere change it to reflect position group. A different cap for QBs, OL, running backs, tight ends and wide receivers, DL, DB, Safety and cornerbacks.
In a dream world there would be no cap and players would get paid their worth, or what the organization could afford.
Option 1: NCAA and NFL implememt a rule limiting carries a running back can have in a season. Last year roughly 50 running backs in NCAA had 150 carries or more. 12 had 250 or more attempts. 4 guys had 300 or more. Only way running backs get paid more is by prolonging careers. Reducing mileage accumulated in college and at the pro level is really the only way to prolong a RB career.
Option 2: NFL steps in and mandates contractual language so running backs get paid for
Rushing TDs
Rushing yards
Carries
Blocks picked up
Tackles broken
Catches
Receiving yards
Receiving TDs
Quantify the incentives however you want but NFL stepping in and mandating all rb contracts include incentive language and let teams/players negotiate prices seems to be a win win for both parties.
Players get paid more for producing
Teams aren’t screwed on rb contracts as much if rb is hurt or not producing.
This creates more divas who only care about their own stats and not about team success. I hate it already.
@technically correct….so if a running back scores more TD’S, runs for more yards, catches more passes, breaks more tackles. How is that only helping him? Sounds like all of these things would be great for the team.
Me: hey let’s pay running backs for doing things to help the team win- running receiving scoring protecting the qb breaking tackles for extra yards.
You: that’s a dumb idea they’re just selfish and care only about themselves
Yeah. It won’t create more divas since contract language already includes most those things.
But it doesn’t include things like blocking for the qb, broken tackles.
Perhaps Pete Carroll thought the NFL had a carries quota when he decided to pass from the opponents 1 yard line in that SB game. Terrible idea IMO.
Your an idiot. Theres no reason to change a thing. Why change rules for one position. If they don’t like there job, change it. Just stop
You’re*
Their*
We’ve been changing rules for offensive positions for years . Have you not paid attention to protections given to receivers and qbs these days compared to previous generations?
Can’t hit a defenseless receiver and you can’t tackle a qb below the waist/thigh or hit them too hard anymore but suddenly thinking of ways to protect running back careers is stupid. Alright room temperature iq. Maybe find a more suitable conversation for your intellectual abilities.
The single important detail was the RBs that participated and idea discussions that ensued. Communication and involvement is important.
If an equatable solution is realized it’d likely spread to every ‘player position’.
If the QBs are going to get the lions share of cap salary allotment then it seems obvious that players at some other position are going to get the short end of the stick. It won’t be WRs because a QB without someone to catch his passes has limited value. That leaves RBs as the most likely to get stiffed. I think the best solution is to tweak the game model with rule changes as the league did before. If it becomes more difficult to succeed by passing then play distribution will shift back to running the ball more and that increases the value of having capable RBs. In the 70s the game was all about running and now it’s all about passing. I think a model striking a better balance can be achieved.
The fact that Tretter (or anyone for that matter) suggested fabricating injuries is disgraceful.
Well he’s a lawyer, so….also, I’m surprised it took so long for someone to make this point. If anyone thinks these agents are looking out for the best of their client/s, they’re not.
JC Tretter was a Center for the Browns, and one that apparently couldn’t get another contract because of his role as the NFLPA President, even though I think he’s still only 30 or so and performed pretty well…
That is probably not a coincidence, and especially if his negotiation tactics are anything similar to the ones he suggests here when talking about players just flat out liking about injuries…
I could be wrong, but I don’t think he’s the first NFLPA President that has struggled to get signed even though by all accounts they should still have a starting job in the league…
The NFL’s favorite word is collusion.
I thought the NFLs favorite word was CHA-CHING $$$.
Regrettably, sometimes reality kicks in. In the real world, the janitor is never going to make anywhere near as much money as the top sales rep. It doesn’t matter that in terms of hard work, the janitor outdoes the sales rep by a huge margin. At the end of the day, the sales rep is worth more to the well-being of the company, and will be paid more. Fair or not, that’s the way it is and it won’t be changing any time soon.
“jC Tretter admits the union told lamar to not play”
Running backs are no different than other positions, i.e., great players get their money and everyone else on the team is left to fight over the scraps.
Personally I think the answer is to allow a team to declare one player contract to be exempt from the salary cap every year, i.e., identifying the team’s “true” franchise player. Teams with star QBs would likely use it for them, while anyone with a marginal QB (or a team with a QB on a rookie contract) could use it to reward a star at another position.
This would cost the owners money of course, but the current labor agreement can always be amended if the NFLPA offer up something for the owners in return – like a smaller cap, or an 18th game.
It’s a problem of supply and demand. Running backs are great for a few years and then break down and are easy to replace with the next crop of backs coming into the league. That’s going to limit their market. No one will commit long term to a player who is replaceable cheap. The only solution is to abolish the tag. Otherwise they should play a different position if they don’t like it.
The real issue here is not the second post-draft contract it’s the one right after the 5th year option. Players, including Ekeler have signed lowball deals. To expect to get paid at age 30 when there is real data towards decline, is foolhardy. Better to focus on the RBs under draft contracts, that’s where real change could happen.
Why should running backs should be treated different from other high impact/short career positions, like linebacker or safety?
Those are as short of a window
Those are as short of a window and there are less elite ones. RB’s are a dime a dozen
Even in free agency RBs will not always get what they expect. We know it’s a passing game and QB, LT, DE, WR and shut down CB will be viewed as more important.
Kamara May end up seeing a good amount of that cash because the Saints keep restructuring his deal. But not all teams are going to operate like the Saints have with their restructures
Lost interest the minute Florio’s name was mentioned. His reporting is about as helpful as a blind guy driving on the interstate.
Simplest solution is to change the WR/TE/RB franchise Tag into a Skill position tag. With all these positions so interchangeable in the current game this could make it harder to franchise TEs and RBs who basically do what WRs do also
They can have weekly conference calls but it isn’t going to change a thing. You might as well get a meeting of the worlds best head-on kickers as well, wondering why the soccer-style kickers replaced them. They’re all getting the best deals on the table for them. Used to be the RBs got all the $ and glory, then they realized they could find very good talent much later in the draft.
There is clear collusion on behalf of the entire NFL to keep RB salaries low. Holdout until you get what you deserve!!!!!!
They are getting what they deserve.
Ekler in 2022 –
17 games
915 rushing / 13 TD / 2 fumbles lost (204 touches)
722 receiving / 5 TD / 1 fumbles lost (107 receptions)
1637 tot yards / 18 TD / 3 fumbles lost
Not bad for a ‘gadget RB’, produced 10 total yards less than both 20 mil (+/-) starting receivers and they only provided 8 TDs between them