Tag deadline passing shows just how much RBs are not valued in the NFL
By Brian Miller
Both the Las Vegas Raiders and New York Giants may not know what is going to happen with the RB position in 2023 as both teams now sit and wait out their star runners decisions on the 2023 season. This is important because it could put more strain on the Miami Dolphins getting something done wiyth Dalvin Cook.
Both Josh Jacobs and Saquon Barkley opted to not sign their Franchise Tag and their respective teams have opted to not give them extended contracts. In doing so, the deadline to sign new long-term deals has passed.
This means that neither team can negotiate a new contract extension beyond the 2023 season until the 2024 league new year begins next March. Both players would need to sign one-year deals or their franchise tag in order play and this is where it could get interesting.
Both players seem content to sit this season out. At the very least, they will skip training camp and report later in the season to avoid not being paid at all. Each player can not be fined for not being in camp because they have not contract.
For Dalvin Cook, it could be an opportunity if one of those teams wants to pay an cheaper amount to Cook over the tags $10 million for the season. That would still remain unlikely given the fact that either Jacobs or Barkley could simply sing the tag but at the same time, if they are willing to sit out all year, who knows what will happen.
Both teams and both players are in territory that neither side should be in but find themselves in because they could not come to any agreements.
Over the last decade, the value for running backs has drastically reduced. Featured backs are no longer something that teams look for as they run with more of a committee at the position. Generational talent now becomes more or less a player drafted in round one that could last four to five years before being replaced.
In Miami, the Dolphins will run a committee approach and that makes Dalvin Cook less likely to join the team given the monetary wants of Cook and Chris Grier's reluctance to overpay for a running back.
In this era of football, being a running back is not going to make any players money beyond other positons. Those days may be gone until the NFL starts to flow back to a stronger running system.