Derrick Henry reacts to NFL running back pay situation, speaks on state of position

Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry joined fellow stars at the position in speaking out against the recent trend of teams devaluing ball carriers.

Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs passed the signing deadline on Monday afternoon without long-term deals after refusing to ink their one-year franchise tags.

Their statuses for the 2023 season are up in the air. Meanwhile, other running backs don’t like what they’re seeing.

“At this point, just take the RB position out the game then,” Henry tweeted on Monday. “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.”

Henry enters the fourth year of his four-year, $50 million deal with the Titans this season. Though he rushed for 1,503 yards in 2022 and had a 2,000-yard season in 2020, even Henry is at risk of being sorely disappointed by the running back market during his next round of negotiations.

Austin Ekeler: ‘They act like we are discardable widgets’

Other running backs, even ones currently secure in their own megadeals, also spoke out on Monday following the deadline.

“This is the kind of trash that has artificially devalued one of the most important positions in the game,” Chargers running back Austin Ekeler replied to an ESPN draft analyst who suggested teams shouldn’t offer running backs big deals past their rookie contract. “Everyone knows it’s tough to win without a top RB and yet they act like we are discardable widgets. I support any RB doing whatever it takes to get his bag.”

“This is Criminal,” 49ers back Christian McCaffrey shared. “Three of the best PLAYERS in the entire league, regardless of position.”

McCaffrey was one of the last running backs to ink a megadeal before the league started to sour on the position. He signed for four years and $64 million with the Panthers in 2020.

Miles Sanders: ‘It sucks to be a running back right now’

Former Eagles running back Miles Sanders managed to exit free agency with a four-year deal with the Carolina Panthers but even he understands the current trend cannot continue.

The Panthers locked him in for $25 million at roughly $6.35 million per year.

“It’s nothing that we’re doing wrong,” Sanders said on the Rich Eisen Show. “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.”