What the Super Bowl teams are paying their RB Positions

[buybuydandavis]

Zeke has to be gone. If he had been cut from another team for cap reasons he would be lucky to be brought in to training camp to try to earn a job. The league can see there is no tread on the tires.

Pollard maybe franchised and then draft 2 rookies.

Now we are two.

 

[Loso86]

We get it

 

[Coogiguy03]

Why franchise a guy coming off a broken leg .

Why not???? We just paid a guy coming off an ACL injury surely Pollard injury is worse!!!!

 

[RonWashington]

A RB with a broken leg your willing to pay the average of the highest paid backs in football ? No thanks

 

[Hardline]

Bijan Robinson on a rookie contract would be sweet.

 

[nalam]

The Chiefs spent a 1st rounder on Clyde Edwards Helaire a few years ago and he has not shown much. They drafted Pacheco in the 7th round and already has proven to be the better player.

Zeke was such a terrible pick...and because they took him so high, they were going to extend him for sure. All that for only four years of worthy production. He needed to have a Derrick Henry-like career to justify everything they spent on him.

It was ok to draft zeke and spend the 4 years , he was one of the Top Rbs ( that suspension kind of robbed him more stats) but when Jerry caved and gave him the big extn. Was the big mistake. It should have been prove it one year deal.

 

[G2]

Fans: "No way you draft a RB in the 1st round, 4th overall. And, no way you give them an extension!"

Same fans: "We should draft Robinson."

 

[xwalker]

The 49ers are the model for teams without a Mahomes type QB or QB that does not rush for 760 yards (Hurts).

49ers RB McCaffrey: 16M per season...

 

[gimmesix]

One of last year's Super Bowl participants had a starting running back on a 4-year, $48-million contract.

Whether a team is paying a running back a lot of money or a little isn't an established factor in success.

 

[gimmesix]

This is why I would give Pollard a franchise tag in a heartbeat, but I'm tapping the breaks on a long term deal. 1 year of a high salary wont kill you, but you need to have a replacement ready to go for 2024.

I'm also leaning toward the tag. We gave him a heavier load as the season progressed and he ended up getting dinged near the end of the season and knocked out of the second playoff game.

Tag him and draft a running back within the first three rounds to pair with him. I like some of what I saw from Malik Davis, but we definitely shouldn't trust that he can be the No. 2 back at the moment.

 

[gimmesix]

The 49ers are the model for teams without a Mahomes type QB or QB that does not rush for 760 yards (Hurts).

49ers RB McCaffrey: 16M per season...

Not sure that I'd consider it the model, but they are an example of a team that saw its success improve after getting that expensive back.

 

[gimmesix]

Fans: "No way you draft a RB in the 1st round, 4th overall. And, no way you give them an extension!"

Same fans: "We should draft Robinson."

I have no problem drafting a first-round running back. Saying we should never do that is like saying we should not have drafted Emmitt Smith. Or if we say it's OK but not at the top of the draft, then Minnesota shouldn't have drafted Adrian Peterson. Don't think either of those is true.

 

[G2]

I have no problem drafting a first-round running back. Saying we should never do that is like saying we should not have drafted Emmitt Smith. Or if we say it's OK but not at the top of the draft, then Minnesota shouldn't have drafted Adrian Peterson. Don't think either of those is true.

It's not anything like drafting Smith. RBs have the lowest average in career years, about 2-3 years. Their value is trash. Drafting tem early and extending them in this day and age is just silly.

 

[BotchedLobotomy]

Jerry will continue to chase the glory days of the 90's when the RB position was drafted high, and was one of the highest paid positions on the team. In today's NFL, you can find abundant RB production up and down the draft board. Other than salary cap ramifications, there's zero reasons to keep Zeke on this team and there is no need give TP a bunch of money either thru a new contract or the franchise tag.

 

[gimmesix]

It's not anything like drafting Smith. RBs have the lowest average in career years, about 2-3 years. Their value is trash. Drafting tem early and extending them in this day and age is just silly.

Running backs had the lowest average in career years in Smith's day, too.

 

[G2]

Running backs had the lowest average in career years in Smith's day, too.

No they didn't. Smith and Peterson played for 15 years. They're outliers. Look at Elliott. We haven't even gotten out from under his contract.

 

[IslandCowboy]

Yeah but they both have a QB.

 

[CTcowboy203]

The money we gave to zeke has been gross. That said kc has rb on a rookie contract I believe and I’m pretty sure sanders is too. Philly will be in our same position once hurts gets laid this offseason

 

[gimmesix]

Jerry will continue to chase the glory days of the 90's when the RB position was drafted high, and was one of the highest paid positions on the team. In today's NFL, you can find abundant RB production up and down the draft board. Other than salary cap ramifications, there's zero reasons to keep Zeke on this team and there is no need give TP a bunch of money either thru a new contract or the franchise tag.

So instead of taking Pro Bowler Najee Harris in the first round in 2021, Pittsburgh should have taken Trey Sermon (on his second team) in the second round or with a trade down into the third round or Jets backup Michael Carter in the third round or Vikings backup Kene Nwangwu in the fourth round?

There are definitely good backs who can be found after the first round. Rhamondree Stevenson (fourth round) for the Patriots and Chuba Hubbard (fourth round) for the Panthers from that 2021 draft had good seasons this year for their teams, and Kenneth Gainwell (fifth round) for Philly was a good contributor.

There were 19 running backs taken in the 2021 draft and eight of those had more than 200 yards rushing last year (including all three first-rounders). That means you had a 30 percent chance the rest of the draft of finding "abundant running back production."

 

[Kingofholland]

Cowboys spent a high pick on Zeke and was a great offensive player at the time. Not a whole else they could do at the time except turning down his contract demands and let him sit.