The average length of an NFL running back’s career is only 2.57 years. While there will always be exceptions to this, history has proven that the human body struggles when facing the physical demands of consistently carrying the football.
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After enduring treacherous workloads and an even worse market, the RB position finally stood up for itself in 2024. Despite veterans such as Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, Joe Mixon, and Josh Jacobs dispelling numerous doubts regarding player age and the value of the position, many believe that the NFL’s premier runners are still not fairly compensated.
Especially in Saquon Barkley’s case, former Pittsburgh Steeler, Ryan Clark, maintains that the league’s top back is still underpaid. During a recent appearance on the Get Got Podcast, Clark highlighted that the league still has a long way to go in terms of providing adequate payment to ball carriers.
“The game is getting back to understanding the value of the running back on the field. Now, we’ve got to start thinking about the value of the running back when it comes to paying them.”
Asserting that Barkley’s three-year, $37.75 million contract is “…Not nearly enough money based on what he’s produced,” Clark’s comments were well received by his fellow panelists. A pair of former running backs themselves, Michael Robinson and Marshawn Lynch were more than inclined to agree with their guest.
“There’s already a mechanism in the CBA for them to pay runners. We already have player performance… I think the running back position is returning.”
While Barkley may be underpaid from a production standpoint, his current contract is a testament to the Eagles’ front office. Philadelphia managed to land the 2024 rushing leader without having to make him the highest-paid back in the NFL.
With a yearly salary of $12,583,333, Barkley is earning just $33,333 more than the league’s fourth-highest-paid RB, Alvin Kamara. This also puts him behind Chrisitan McCaffrey and Jonathan Taylor, who currently earn $19 million and $14 million a year, respectively.
Clark discusses whether or not RBs will get paid more in 2025
Upon Robinson asking Clark if he foresees an increase in salaries for running backs in the next cycle, the LSU product was reluctant to predict any immediate change. While he maintains that a pay increase seems inevitable, he doesn’t appear to foresee anything causing a sudden spike in pay stubs for the 2025 season.
“I don’t know how the money will change, I think it should.”
With numerous bellcow backs bucking the trend of falling off at age 27, they have undoubtedly restored a sense of optimism in general managers who may be looking to splurge at the position in the coming years. However, the majority of the league’s premiere runners are more than likely to remain where they are for the coming season, as teams tend to hold onto quality backs once they find them.
Either way, future generations will thank this current class for its contributions towards the value of the position.
