Trotter: The pay disparity for NFL running backs is as wrong as it is wide

There’s a reason two of the NFL’s three unsigned “franchise” players are running backs, and it’s because no position group has been more disrespected by executives and coaches in recent years.

These decision-makers like to use the term “devalued” when discussing the position. They argue they can get by with a plug-and-play mentality or a committee approach. Consequently, compensation for running backs under the franchise tag trails every other position group except kickers and punters. On offense alone, their $10.1 million tender this season is nearly $1.3 million less than tight ends, $8.15 million less than offensive linemen, $9.7 million behind wide receivers and $22.3 million behind quarterbacks.

A quick aside before continuing: It’s insane that the NFL is the only major professional sports league that gets away with directly tying compensation to the position someone plays. In every other sport, the best players make the most money. There is no specific slotting for pitchers versus outfielders or centers versus guards. Yet we don’t bat an eye in football when an average player makes significantly more than the most dominant force in the game, all because one plays quarterback and the other plays defensive tackle.

Which brings me back to running backs and why they will almost always find an ally in me when they hold out or refuse to sign franchise tenders until late in the season. I’ve never subscribed to the theory that they’re less important today than they were a decade ago or a generation ago. They have the ability to change games and fortunes on offense as much as anyone outside of quarterbacks, whose importance is reflected in the rules changes and enhancements the league has adopted to keep them healthy.

Take Josh Jacobs, for instance. He unquestionably was the best offensive player on the Raiders last season, finishing the year as the league leader in rushing yards and scrimmage yards. He was one of only two players in franchise history (along with Hall of Famer Marcus Allen) to surpass 2,000 yards from scrimmage in a season and had five games with 140 yards rushing and a touchdown, nearly doubling the next closest player.

Jacobs became the identity of an offense that had none early in the year. He accounted for 49.9 percent of the team’s touches from scrimmage, which was the highest percentage in the league and nearly 37 points above the next Raider. His 93 rushing first downs were 24 more than anyone else in the league and equaled or surpassed the Vikings, Dolphins, Chargers, Colts, Texans, Rams, Bucs and Jets as a team.

And yet, to this point, the Raiders are asking him to play on a franchise tag that trails six teammates in terms of salary cap allocation. Jacobs has yet to sign the tender or participate in offseason activities, and if the sides fail to reach an agreement on a multiyear deal before July 17, he will be required by league rules to play under the tag this season.

His situation is not unlike that of the Giants’ Saquon Barkley and the Cowboys’ Tony Pollard, fellow running backs who were franchise tagged and have yet to receive multiyear deals. (Barkley, like Jacobs, has not signed his franchise tender while Pollard has signed it.)

“I have a lot of respect in this league and I think that’s how I should be viewed.”

Saquon Barkley gives an extended answer about the running back market: pic.twitter.com/kYBs83Bf8F

— Giants Videos (@SNYGiants) June 12, 2023

All of this would be less of an issue for me if not for the 2011 collective bargaining agreement that threw running backs under the bus. The background:

In the lead-up to negotiations, the NFL made it clear to the players association that it wanted a rookie wage scale as part of any agreement. The owners were tired of paying massive dollars to unproven players, with former Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford receiving $50 million in guarantees from the Rams as the first pick in the 2010 draft.

It was not the first time the league had sought a salary cap within the salary cap. However, previous attempts were rebuffed by longtime union executive director Gene Upshaw, a Hall of Fame guard with the Raiders who liked to say that players are rookies for only one year, after which they become captains and leaders of their teams.

“So,” Upshaw would ask rhetorically, “why place a cap on their earnings?”

GO DEEPER

Saquon Barkley’s contract, rookies impressing coaches and more Giants minicamp takeaways

After Upshaw died of pancreatic cancer in 2008, some owners saw an opportunity to revisit a rookie wage scale and made it a priority in negotiations with DeMaurice Smith, the new executive director who had no previous ties to professional football. Smith studied Upshaw’s notes and writing and initially fought against rookies being used as negotiating pawns, but the owners ultimately won out because, among other things, veteran players were unwilling to miss games and paychecks to protect the incoming class.

We can debate the merits of that decision until our final breath, but there is no denying that that particular change to the collective bargaining agreement has been as devastating to running backs drafted in the first round as it has been beneficial to the owners seeking cost certainty in player contracts. In fact, it is not a stretch to say that no position group has been more negatively affected.

As part of the agreement, teams were allowed to contractually tie up first-round picks for up to eight years; the first four on fully guaranteed deals, followed by a fifth-year team option, then three consecutive years of franchise tags. With the average career span being 3.2 years, according to NFLPA data, that means first-rounders might go their entire career without receiving a multiyear extension or reaching the open market in free agency.

It’s why some agents prefer not to pursue college running backs unless they’re projected to be a top-10 pick, where the money is good, or someone who will be selected outside of the first round because the rules allow those individuals to renegotiate their deals after three seasons or become free agents after four. It’s critical for backs to get as much as they can as quickly as they can because they tend to have an abbreviated shelf life. Of the 173 players who took snaps at the position last season, only 15 were 30 or older, according to Pro Football Focus.

The danger for players like Jacobs is that teams will run them into the ground and then move on quickly. For instance, Jacobs accounted for 79.4 percent of the Raiders’ rush attempts last season, which led the league. Since entering the NFL in 2019, he ranks in the top five in carries, rush yards, rush touchdowns and scrimmage yards. That’s a lot of work in a short period of time.

Running backs know the likelihood is they will have just one shot at a big-money deal after their rookie contract. The system is set up that way. Recent history says Jacobs, Barkley and Pollard will get their extensions before the July 17 deadline — Le’Veon Bell is the only running back since 2010 to receive the franchise tag and not sign a multiyear extension before the deadline — but will it be for the money they deserve? Probably not, which is why their position group will always have an empathetic ally in me.

(Photo of Josh Jacobs celebrating a touchdown against the Denver Broncos at Allegiant Stadium: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)