Green Bay Packers make $7.4million josh Jacobs decision.
Though it might have taken longer than anticipated for a couple of the NFL’s top running backs, Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs, to secure long-term contracts, their deals didn’t necessarily result in a market correction for the position as a whole.
It seems for at least a brief moment this offseason, the negotiating power swung in their favor, and they capitalized — Barkley with a three-year, $37.7 million deal ($26 million guaranteed) with the Philadelphia Eagles and Jacobs with a four-year, $48 million deal ($12.5 million guaranteed) with the Green Bay Packers.
But unlike the league’s premium positions, at which the price tags have risen annually, running backs still haven’t met the value of the bigger pacts from a few years ago.The San Francisco 49ers’ Christian McCaffrey ($16 million) and New Orleans Saints’ Alvin Kamara ($15 million) still pace the position in average annual value, and both of their contracts were signed in 2020. Jonathan Taylor, who secured his new deal with the Indianapolis Colts last season after a trade request, ranks third at $14 million annually. Beyond that, it was the first time in two years a running back had signed a multiyear extension worth at least $10 million annually.
Barkley ($12.6 million), Nick Chubb ($12.2 million) and Jacobs ($12 million) are the only others averaging north of $10 million, and Barkley and Jacobs found their deals in free agency.
For comparison, nine running backs in 2023 were playing on contracts worth more than $10 million annually, although Jacobs and Barkley negotiated slight raises from their franchise numbers and Tony Pollard played on his tag.