This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Here’s Charles Curtis.
Imagine this happened to you in your job: You finish four or so years of top-notch production. You’re a star in your industry, proving that you deserve a hefty raise.
But your boss tells you that’s not worth anything. All the studies show you might keep that talent up for a year or so. But you won’t get the raise you deserve because studies show that you may decline quickly. Plus, you’re easily replaceable by a younger, cheaper version of yourself (OK, that does actually happen in real life).
That’s running backs in the NFL right now.
Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs and Tony Pollard were all handed the franchise tag this offseason by the Giants, Raiders and Cowboys, and they had until Monday afternoon to agree to a long-term contract. Nope. Not one of them signed, and now the drama begins for two of them. Barkley could hold out from the Giants and Jacobs from the Raiders. Pollard signed his tender, so he’s in for a one-year deal, a risk given how an injury could stop him from earning a lucrative deal.
As fellow RBs Derrick Henry, Christian McCaffrey, Jonathan Taylor, Najee Harris and Austin Ekeler all pointed out on Monday, the devaluing of the position is awful. Of course these guys all deserve the money they should have coming to them. Of the positions in the NFL, running back puts so much strain and pain on the body. To do that for a few years and suddenly be told, “Sorry! You’re about to be chewed up and spit out and not worth the money you deserve!” is gross.
When it comes to dollars and cents, it sadly makes all the sense to devalue running backs. We’ve seen spending big dollars on a veteran — Le’Veon Bell, Ezekiel Elliott and so on — backfire, straining salary caps. Of course it’s the right move on paper to draft a running back or to sign one to a short-term deal and start the process over again.
But this isn’t on paper. These are human beings who have made huge sacrifices, who have performed at the top of their game. And now, teams aren’t willing to pay what they deserve.
It’s just awful.
Quick Hits: The best 26-and-up NFL players … MLB tarp monster eats human … and more.
— We gave you the best NFL players 25 and under yesterday. Today? The best 26-and-over vets.
— A member of the Reds’ grounds crew hilariously got swallowed up by the rain tarp after slipping.