These players and others whining about running backs not getting paid are really irking my nerves. The market dictates the price. The supply of running backs that can play at a high level in the NFL is higher than other positions which lowers demand and price. Basic economics. A full time practice squad player makes 5 or 6 times what an average employee makes in America. They sound like over paid brats that are whining cause they can only afford 3 houses instead of 10. Crap like that pisses me off. Sounds like they are trying to claim the running back position is being oppressed. Our culture has gone to straight crap. Be grateful you get to play a sport as a grown man for a living. I have no sympathy for them. Rant over.
NFL RB’s Pay
- Thread starter bigbub50
- Start date
The method is simple, draft a RB, play him through his contract, franchise tag him at the end for a one year deal, let him walk and draft another rb. The RB position just can’t carry an NFL team anymore unless it’s a freak like Derek Henry and even he is starting to decline.
I'm with you because it's not even the practice squad guys or 3rd stringers crying. They're the ones still working their tails off just trying to make a roster.
The ones complaining are mostly guys that've made anywhere from $20-50M over the last few years, and they're upset that they're not able to keep up with QB and WR pay. On one hand, I do think that it sucks that a RB's shelf life is basically expired by the time that they reach their 2nd contract. On the other hand, though, these guys still have opportunities to make generational wealth in a very short amount of time, and the silver lining that they're wanting to conveniently ignore is that there's honestly no better position in football to go from an undrafted rookie to a starting NFL RB following a few quick injuries. Hell, it's happened in single games before
Bunch of over grown titty babies. I of course would never say that to their face cause they could totally take me, but I will here.
The ones complaining could live off interest the rest of their lives from one years pay if invested properly
The union just needs to negotiate the ability for rookie running backs to have incentive laden deals or either shorter term deals. If a running back has 5 or 6 seasons, then only give a team control for 3 seasons and allow the player to hit free agency.
The gripe is legitimate in my opinion, regardless of your opinion on their pay, which I get. Every single rookie at every position is told prove yourself on the rookie contract and then you earn a big second contract. The raiders rode Jacobs last year and will again this year but then he will be a free agent. Their point is valid, at least the guys at the top like Jacobs or Barkley. But I don’t believe the answer is to just pay them more. The answer is give the teams less years of control or allow for incentive laden deals for rookie RBs. You lead the league in rushing, you probably deserve to be paid better than the 150th player in the NFL (which I believe is what Jacobs was paid like last year).
The gripe is legitimate in my opinion, regardless of your opinion on their pay, which I get. Every single rookie at every position is told prove yourself on the rookie contract and then you earn a big second contract. The raiders rode Jacobs last year and will again this year but then he will be a free agent. Their point is valid, at least the guys at the top like Jacobs or Barkley. But I don’t believe the answer is to just pay them more. The answer is give the teams less years of control or allow for incentive laden deals for rookie RBs. You lead the league in rushing, you probably deserve to be paid better than the 150th player in the NFL (which I believe is what Jacobs was paid like last year).
I demand to be paid like a neurosurgeon because I am a doctor and answer a lot of emails and my base salary has stagnated
Derrick Henry said the NFL should just get rid of the position altogether.
It's interesting how much more valuable the RB position is to college ball, whereas in the NFL you can scheme an average talent to force the defense to account for him.
It's interesting how much more valuable the RB position is to college ball, whereas in the NFL you can scheme an average talent to force the defense to account for him.
This is one of those things where one set of rules doesn't fit all. Running backs just don't have the shelf life of any other position. They can't get to a second contract healthy. NFLPA needs to address it in the next negotiation. Maybe cut them to 3 years where they can go free agent and no tags.
Absolutely… couldn’t agree more. Top tier running backs are still impacting the game just as much as always. They just don’t have the shelf life. And top tier running backs still have value, as a young player. If they didn’t teams wouldn’t spend very early first round picks on them.
I actually have a more fair way for compensation to happen in Professional sports. I devised this back when I was playing. I based it on Coach Polk's means to determine Most Valuable Player and Most Valuable Pitcher for our team. There was a scoring sheet that was different for pitchers and players. You earned different point for different accomplishments. So a hit was a point for every base you made (single=1, double=2, etc) and RBI was 4 points a run scored was a point moving a runner over was a point, making a putout in the field was a point, exceptional plays could be more. There were also negative points for like strikeout was 1 and strikeout looking was 2 and errors were a point. There were like 40 or so of these categories on each sheet. So at the end of the season the player and pitcher with the most points was the MVP.
I obviously thought in terms of Baseball originally. It can be adapted to football the players and owners can agree upon a scoring system like that for each position where a player would say get a point for being in the play, they would earn points for yards and catches and throws and blocks etc and lose points for bad plays or penalties.
The compensation model would have a base amount based on time in the league. So just for example rookies get $500,000 base, year 2 gets 750,000, 3 gets 1.1 or some agreed upon scale. Then you earn so many dollars per point. This way a rookie can actually earn 15 or 20 million if they have a great season. Quarterbacks will be paid more because they are in a position to earn more points. Then when that veteran RBs legs are dead you won't be stuck paying them big bucks when they can only give you 700 yards. There would be no need for milestone bonuses because you are getting paid for every positive thing you do on the field. No need for a salary cap. Better teams who score more points and yards would have higher payouts at the end. There won't be an option to sit a player that is about to make a milestone, because they will be paying whoever is playing for every play. Any league awards like MVP or All-pro will get a bonus from a NFL pool that all teams will add to. The team won't pay them directly. Teams could also give points for players that do social things for the team off the field. I am sure those analytics guys could look at compensation over the past 5 or so years and come up with a formula that would make payroll be roughly the same percentage in this model.
I thought of this because of players like Pujols and Mike Trout that came into the league tearing it up and were underpaid and then as they get older they end up being overpaid. It would also prevent the service start date thing where a rookie does well in spring training but they don't bring them up right away so they get an extra year on the free agent clock.
This compensation model you would be paid for your performance each year. No one is gambling on what they player might or might not do and the owners can't be cheap and play the system. There would be very few places for negotiations in this model. PLayers would also move less because playing time is the only thing that really matters.
I obviously thought in terms of Baseball originally. It can be adapted to football the players and owners can agree upon a scoring system like that for each position where a player would say get a point for being in the play, they would earn points for yards and catches and throws and blocks etc and lose points for bad plays or penalties.
The compensation model would have a base amount based on time in the league. So just for example rookies get $500,000 base, year 2 gets 750,000, 3 gets 1.1 or some agreed upon scale. Then you earn so many dollars per point. This way a rookie can actually earn 15 or 20 million if they have a great season. Quarterbacks will be paid more because they are in a position to earn more points. Then when that veteran RBs legs are dead you won't be stuck paying them big bucks when they can only give you 700 yards. There would be no need for milestone bonuses because you are getting paid for every positive thing you do on the field. No need for a salary cap. Better teams who score more points and yards would have higher payouts at the end. There won't be an option to sit a player that is about to make a milestone, because they will be paying whoever is playing for every play. Any league awards like MVP or All-pro will get a bonus from a NFL pool that all teams will add to. The team won't pay them directly. Teams could also give points for players that do social things for the team off the field. I am sure those analytics guys could look at compensation over the past 5 or so years and come up with a formula that would make payroll be roughly the same percentage in this model.
I thought of this because of players like Pujols and Mike Trout that came into the league tearing it up and were underpaid and then as they get older they end up being overpaid. It would also prevent the service start date thing where a rookie does well in spring training but they don't bring them up right away so they get an extra year on the free agent clock.
This compensation model you would be paid for your performance each year. No one is gambling on what they player might or might not do and the owners can't be cheap and play the system. There would be very few places for negotiations in this model. PLayers would also move less because playing time is the only thing that really matters.
Its not only a shelf life thing, its just different from every other position in the sense that a RB is usually never going to be any better than they are as a straight up rookie. They come in and play at whatever level they are at, stay at that level for 5-6 years, then the decline begins. So, their pay is completely inverse to their production for their entire careers. It makes very little sense when you think about it.
I’m not sure what the solution is, but it seems like its a unique animal in all of professional sports. Not just the NFL.
Just like a basketball Center, better get yo NIL in college. Life sucks sometimes, get a helmet, you overpaid babies. Ask Marcus Lattimore if he gives half a sh*t about Josh Jacob's problems.
Not sure what the equivalent is in baseball. Maybe the high-average guy hitter, or low velo pitcher? The Tony Gwynns and John Oleruds, Greg Madduxs? If you can't hit jacks or throw gas, not much room for you.
Not sure what the equivalent is in baseball. Maybe the high-average guy hitter, or low velo pitcher? The Tony Gwynns and John Oleruds, Greg Madduxs? If you can't hit jacks or throw gas, not much room for you.
League minimum salary across the board. Pay additional "incentives" based on the point system of productivity as mentioned above. Set a standard base pay "raise" per season. A 10 year vet will have a higher base pay than a rookie. Longevity in the league is rewarded consistently, and the on-field production is rewarded based on "what have you done for me lately."
Who were the "best" RBs last year? How many playoff games did their teams win? Or... how many even made the playoffs?
No one cares about having the best RBs in the NFL on your roster. Sure, you'd like to have one but why overspend on a position when you can get by with less? It would be fun to drive a Ferrari to the office every day, but a 20 year old Corolla would get me there too.
No one cares about having the best RBs in the NFL on your roster. Sure, you'd like to have one but why overspend on a position when you can get by with less? It would be fun to drive a Ferrari to the office every day, but a 20 year old Corolla would get me there too.