Three teams used the franchise tag on running backs, and none of them were able to agree on a long-term contract. Per the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the deadline has now passed for them to play in 2023 under anything other than a one-year deal.
This is not a good thing. Especially in the cases of Josh Jacobs and Saquon Barkley. Both just put up big numbers but didn’t receive the kind of money they were hoping for. They’re both justifiably miffed, with neither particularly likely to show up anytime soon. Neither has signed their franchise tender, so there’s the possibility (perhaps likelihood) both will opt to stay away until September.
If healthy and dialed in, Jacobs and Barkley are potential top-5 back in fantasy drafts. But if neither is coming anywhere near a practice in August, they’re something different. I wouldn’t use a first-round pick on either of those players right now (I passed on both, in fact, with the 12th and 13th picks of a recent draft.)
Tony Pollard is a little different. He’s signed his one-year franchise tender. He’ll be in the starting lineup for Dallas on opening day, but I’m thinking the Cowboys will still sign another back to come in and handle some of the workload. (I don’t think Pollard is suited to handle the ball 300-plus times.) Ezekiel Elliott is still available, should they want to run back that combo.
With Jacobs and Barkley, if their teams want to get them to training camp, it probably will require something beyond the $10.1 million franchise tag – some combination of throwing in extra money and perhaps an agreement to not use the tag again in 2024. But the multiple-year contract option is now off the table.
I side with the players in this instance. The shelf life is short for a running back, and I’d prefer to see them get paid. The Giants had no problem paying Kenny Golladay $36 million for two seasons of work, and he’s never factored as prominently into their offense as Barkley. And Jacobs is on a roster where Hunter Renfrow and Chandler Jones have cap hits that are a combined $7 million higher.
Making these situations more interesting, neither the Raiders nor Giants have another good player at the position. Zamir White (who’s never started an NFL game) probably will be the backup tailback for Las Vegas. For New York, backup options include Matt Breida, Gary Brightwell and fifth-rounder Eric Gray. The Giants are hoping to take a step forward this year; it’s tough to imagine they would be comfortable opening at home against Dallas with Breida, Brightwell or Gray starting.
Dalvin Cook is the wild card. He’s available, creating the possibility that either to Raiders or Giants could pivot to him, removing the franchise tag and giving most of that money to the veteran running back.
It’s pretty crazy. Jacobs, Barkley and Pollard all finished with top-10 numbers last year (using PPR scoring).
| 2022 RUNNING BACK LEADERS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Run | Rec | Tot | TD | PPR |
| Austin Ekeler, LAC | 915 | 722 | 1637 | 18 | 378.7 |
| Christian McCaffrey, Car.-S.F. | 1139 | 741 | 1880 | 13 | 356.7 |
| Josh Jacobs, L.V. | 1653 | 400 | 2053 | 12 | 330.3 |
| Derrick Henry, Ten. | 1538 | 398 | 1936 | 13 | 308.8 |
| Saquon Barkley, NYG | 1312 | 338 | 1650 | 10 | 284.0 |
| Nick Chubb, Cle. | 1525 | 239 | 1764 | 13 | 283.4 |
| Aaron Jones, G.B. | 1121 | 395 | 1516 | 7 | 254.6 |
| Rhamondre Stevenson, N.E. | 1040 | 421 | 1461 | 6 | 251.1 |
| Tony Pollard, Dall. | 1007 | 371 | 1378 | 12 | 248.8 |
| • Dalvin Cook, Min. | 1173 | 295 | 1468 | 10 | 245.8 |
| Joe Mixon, Cin. | 814 | 441 | 1255 | 9 | 239.5 |
| Jamaal Williams, Det. | 1066 | 73 | 1139 | 17 | 229.9 |
| Leonard Fournette, T.B. | 668 | 523 | 1191 | 6 | 228.1 |
| Najee Harris, Pitt. | 1034 | 229 | 1263 | 10 | 227.5 |
| Miles Sanders, Phil. | 1269 | 78 | 1347 | 11 | 220.7 |
| Alvin Kamara, N.O. | 897 | 490 | 1387 | 4 | 219.7 |
| Travis Etienne, Jac. | 1125 | 316 | 1441 | 5 | 211.1 |
| Kenneth Walker, Sea. | 1050 | 165 | 1215 | 9 | 202.5 |
| James Conner, Ariz. | 782 | 300 | 1082 | 8 | 202.2 |
| Jerick McKinnon, K.C. | 291 | 512 | 803 | 10 | 198.3 |
—Ian Allan