Miles Sanders explains how running back market impacted decision to sign with Panthers

Unlike several of his fellow 1,000+ yard rushers, running back Miles Sanders did not wait around to sign a deal when free agency hit this offseason. Promptly on March 15, Sanders signed a four-year deal with the Carolina Panthers for $25.4 million.

His new deal is a far cry from the one the Panthers inked for running back Christian McCaffrey just three offseasons ago. The current 49ers back also had a four-year deal but for a whopping $64 million.

The running back market this offseason spelled trouble for Sanders, so he and his representation did not wait.

“Yeah, just to really try to get a deal done because the numbers were dropping literally daily as soon as free agency started,” Sanders said on the Rich Eisen Show. “Once they made the market $10 million, it was very hard to even negotiate anything more to that order, get a deal that everyone’s been dreaming of. A Christian McCaffrey deal, an Alvin Kamara deal, but it is what it is. It makes me hungrier. I’m still doing to do what I do every year and try to force a new contract.”

Sanders and his agent did what they had to do to find some security, but he hopes the situation corrects itself soon.

“Hopefully, it doesn’t drop again, like it did this year, because that would be just ridiculous,” Sanders added. “It’s definitely something that needs to be fixed.”

Sanders: ‘Sucks to be a running back right now’

Looking at his fellow running backs like Josh Jacobs, Dalvin Cook, Saquon Barkley and more, Sanders sees the league’s big decision makers de-valuing the position.

“It’s nothing that we’re doing wrong,” Sanders said. “We’re doing everything that we have to do as far as on the field and stuff like that. For people and GMs or owners to think that running backs are not as valued as much is a lie because you’ve got to see how everything plays out. You’ve got to see what guys like Christian McCaffrey, the stuff he does, things that Saquon Barkley (does), the things that Josh Jacobs (does) consistently each year. …

“You want to franchise tag and create a certain market for running backs just because you have this way of thinking that they only last three or four years. I think it’s B.S., honestly. Almost every running back is underpaid right now. I don’t know what it’s gonna take. That’s a topic that needs to be brought up a little more because it sucks to be a running back right now, honestly.”

On top of landing a contract with some security, the four-year veteran believes he’ll have an opportunity for a bigger role with his new squad.

“This is going to give me more opportunities to help my team win, and that’s all I’m about,” Sanders said when he signed his new deal. “I’m a team guy and I want to do whatever I can to help our team win. Making it to the Super Bowl is pretty addicting and if I knew the formula I would do it every year.”