Christian McCaffrey calls it ‘criminal’ league’s top RB’s didn’t reach contract agreements

After a day which saw several franchise-tagged running backs fail to reach long-term extensions by the 4 p.m. ET deadline with their teams, the San Francisco 49ers’ Christian McCaffrey sounded off on the state of the position in the NFL in 2023.

“This is Criminal. Three of the best PLAYERS in the entire league, regardless of position,” tweeted McCaffrey, in regards to the New York Giants’ Saquon Barkley, the Dallas Cowboys’ Tony Pollard and the Las Vegas Raiders’ Josh Jacobs.

The trio of talented tailbacks all failed to reach a long-term extension with their teams, even after combining for 3,972 yards on the ground this past season. Barkley’s case is arguably the most peculiar given how close he and the Giants reportedly were on an evaluation.

According to Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post, the Giants refused to up their offer of $11 million per year with just north of $22 million fully guaranteed. New York’s offer was reportedly within $1 million to $2 million of Barkley’s reduced asking price. Barkley will instead earn $10.091 million under the non-exclusive franchise tag in 2023.

Per NFL insider Jordan Schultz, Barkley will hold out and won’t report to training camp. The 26-year-old, meanwhile, appeared to express his frustration on Twitter.

“It is what it is,” Barkley tweeted.

Barkley, the two-time Pro Bowler, is coming off one of his best seasons to date in the NFL. He rushed for a career-high 1,312 yards on 4.4 yards per carry and 10 touchdowns. Barkley added 57 receptions for 338 yards through the air.

Christian McCaffrey, star RB’s sound off on NFL

Like McCaffrey, several running backs took to Twitter and shared their thoughts on the treatment of the position across the league.

“At this point, just take the RB position out the game then,” the Tennessee Titans’ Derrick Henry tweeted. “The ones that want to be great & work as hard as they can to give their all to an organization. Just seems like it don’t even matter. I’m with every RB that’s fighting to get what they deserve.”

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris echoed Henry’s thoughts.

“I agree with my running back brothers around the NFL,” Harris tweeted. “History will show that you need running backs to win. We set the tone every game and run through walls for our team and lead in many ways- this notion that we deserve less is a joke.”