Running backs are confused. Are you angry. And for a good reason.
Pro football has targeted the running back position to save cap dollars that can be used for other positions. While it’s become a major bone of contention for the league’s current veteran running backs in recent weeks, it’s been happening for years.
On one level, it’s a fundamental supply and demand issue. Every major college produces a backlog each year that can work in the NFL if: (1) the line can open holes; (2) the player may retain the ball if hit by NFL-caliber defenders; and (3) the player can be relied upon to pick up blitzers in pass protection.
Dozens of running backs enter the draft each year. Some are designed. There aren’t many. Some who aren’t are signed on as free agents. Some of those who don’t get drafted (like Austin Ekeler) become great running backs in the NFL.
This assurance of a constant influx of more players into the position makes those already occupying the position interchangeable. It’s no different than kickers and punters. There are more good ones than the game needs. So why not move from an older and more expensive player to a younger and cheaper player, basically the NFL business?
Check out what the Cowboys did after the 2014 season. DeMarco Murray set the franchise rushing record for a season with 1,845 yards. More than Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett. More than Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith. Murray also led the league that year.
And in 2015, the Cowboys let him go as a free hand.
The Cowboys signed McFadden to a two-year, $5.85 million contract to replace Murray. Murray signed a five-year, $40 million contract with the Eagles.
In his freshman year in Philadelphia, Murray rushed for 702 yards in 15 games. McFadden rushed for 1,089 yards that same season.
That’s the mindset. All players are interchangeable parts of a larger soccer machine. Some are more interchangeable than others. Running backs fall into this category.
A source with extensive knowledge of the dynamics that have led to the current running back market explained it this way: “Basically, people don’t think it’s a position that leads to higher expected points and value.” It is a salary cap league with limited resources. That counts. So teams will spend money on quarterbacks, receivers, pass rushers, and corners. These are the positions that offer the most added value.”
Added value is the key. What does the team get when they pay a player more than most players in a given position are paid? Is it enough to justify the investment? This is the case in key positions where the best players are so much better than the average player. This is not the case with positions like the running back.
As the source added, “Blame it on Mike Shanahan and the analytics community.”
It was Mike Shanahan who first showed that he could incorporate any running back into his system and successfully move the ball across the floor. After Terrell Davis suffered a cruciate ligament tear, Olandis Gary stepped in with a season of 1,159 yards. The next year, Mike Anderson had 1,489.
Mike’s son Kyle has done the same. Each year since he was hired, Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers have had a different leader: Carlos Hyde (2017); Matt Breida (2018); Raheem Mostert (2019); Jeff Wilson (2020); Elijah Mitchell (2021); and Christian McCaffrey (2022).
The irony, of course, is that the 49ers currently have the highest-paid running back in football in Christian McCaffrey. They clearly believe that it has added value.
At least a few others in the NFL certainly do, too. McCaffrey, while great, is not an outlier. However, contractually it is.
So that’s the problem. That’s the problem. As much as the veteran running backs wish something would change, it won’t. Not in an environment with a salary cap that lumps all positions together.
Any solution has to come from somewhere else, whether it’s a faster route to free agency or (our preference) a league-wide fund that pays running backs for yards, touchdowns, and game time.
The current system of outplaying players has created the market dynamics. It’s hard to imagine the current system changing dramatically just because older players aren’t happy with their financial situation.
Especially when every year there is a group of young players waiting for the chance to eventually become underpaid veterans.