NFL RBs sound off as Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs, Tony Pollard aren’t extended – NBC Sports Philadelphia
It wasn't a good day for NFL running backs.
Pro Bowlers Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs and Tony Pollard all failed to reach long-term extension agreements with their respective teams before Monday's 4 p.m. ET deadline.
That means the lead running backs for the New York Giants, Las Vegas Raiders and Dallas Cowboys will play on the one-year franchise tag in the 2023 season, though Pollard is the only one who has officially signed his $10.1 million franchise tender thus far. Jacobs and Barkley are not expected to report to the start of training camp, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported.
Barkley, Jacobs and Pollard are the latest victims of a harsh running back market. As Schefter noted, the last player at the position to ink a long-term deal with an average annual salary of $10 million or more was Nick Chubb nearly two years ago.
After the deadline passed, Barkley tweeted "It is what it is" while Jacobs pushed back on a claim that he was seeking to reset the market. Here's a look at how the rest of NFL Twitter, including star backs Christian McCaffrey, Derrick Henry, Austin Ekeler and Jonathan Taylor, reacted:
At this point , just take the RB position out the game then . 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 .
— Derrick Henry (@KingHenry_2) July 17, 2023
This is the kind of trash that has artificially devalued one of the most important positions in the game. 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.
— Austin Ekeler (@AustinEkeler) July 17, 2023
I agree with my running back brothers around the NFL- history will show that you need running backs to win- we set the tone every game and run trough walls for our team and lead in many ways- this notion that we deserve less is a joke.
— Najee Harris (@ohthatsNajee22) July 17, 2023
1. If you’re good enough, they’ll find you.
2. If you work hard enough, you’ll succeed.
…If you succeed…
3. You boost the Organization
…and then…
Doesn’t matter, you’re a RB
— Jonathan Taylor (@JayT23) July 17, 2023
If you would’ve told me when I played that stud RBs like Saquon & Josh Jacobs would make half of what the top OGs make… 😳
— Ross Tucker (@RossTuckerNFL) July 17, 2023
Josh Jacobs got an All Pro, a rushing title, and has missed like 5 games total in a 4 year span and still couldn’t get a contract done lmao. The market is cooked
— 🤾🏾♂️ (@MaskedAntler) July 17, 2023
saquon and josh jacobs fighting for max strus money 😔
— Steph (@stephxghost) July 17, 2023
I don't really think it makes a ton of sense to pay Daniel Jones a bunch of money and then penny-pinch on Saquon Barkley, but I also simply wouldn't have given Daniel Jones that contract, so nobody asked me.
— Chris Towers …Is A Real Boy (@CTowersCBS) July 17, 2023
