Najee attends xoom meeting about depressed RB market

[Dwinsgames]

Steelers RB Najee Harris was one of many running backs to attend the Zoom meeting organized by Los Angeles Chargers RB Austin Ekeler to discuss and address the depressed running back market, according to multiple reports.

That?s not a surprise after Harris spoke out with other top running backs in the game about the market and its depressed value overall.

?I agree with my running back brothers around the NFL- history will show that you need running backs to win- we set the tone every game and run through walls for our team and lead in many ways- this notion that we deserve less is a joke,? Harris said.

https://steelersnow.com/pittsburgh-steelers-najee-harris-zoom-meeting-fix-rb-market/

[Starlifter]

Najee is not wrong - but I just don't know what RB's can do about it. I think teams have caught on that it's just not worth paying a guy past 5 years. There may be the occasional generational back like Walter Payton, but I just don't think there's that much of a falloff when you have to replace a guy - particularly if you paid attention to the O-Line and it's a standout unit.

[Eich]

A player is only worth what a team is willing to pay. And a team is only willing to pay more to those with skills that are both rare and in demand. While RB skills are in demand, unfortunately for Najee, they aren't rare enough to warrant breaking the bank.

[Born2Steel]

Barkley just signed a deal that is incentives laden and the Giants can still tag him next season. He just lessened his 2024 value.

[feltdizz]

Its messed up because RB is the only position where production is used against you.

but I swear if one more person tries to compare their normal basic ass job to a professional athlete.. lol. Just heard a guy on ESPN radio talk about his manufacturing gig and how much a RB makes in comparison. WHO CARES WHERE YOU WORK.

[feltdizz]

Barkley just signed a deal that is incentives laden and the Giants can still tag him next season. He just lessened his 2024 value.

What are his options? I believe he turned down a contract for more money due to minimal guaranteed money.

[SteelerOfDeVille]

Its messed up because RB is the only position where production is used against you.

but I swear if one more person tries to compare their normal basic ass job to a professional athlete.. lol. Just heard a guy on ESPN radio talk about his manufacturing gig and how much a RB makes in comparison. WHO CARES WHERE YOU WORK.

IKR - Najee is not YOUR peer... His peers are the 1500 guys on the planet that happen to play in the NFL..

[The Man of Steel]

Its messed up because RB is the only position where production is used against you.

but I swear if one more person tries to compare their normal basic ass job to a professional athlete.. lol. Just heard a guy on ESPN radio talk about his manufacturing gig and how much a RB makes in comparison. WHO CARES WHERE YOU WORK.

He sounds just like a typical unskilled union guy.

[feltdizz]

IKR - Najee is not YOUR peer... His peers are the 1500 guys on the planet that happen to play in the NFL..

the whole “these guys are all millionaires so I have no pity” angle is played out and smells like jealousy.

We know these guys make great money and that has never stopped us from debating how well they perform vs their peers.

[feltdizz]

He sounds just like a typical unskilled union guy.

He said the one’s who work the hardest make the most money and that simply isn’t true. Often times the hardest working person who does the back breaking work get paid the least because their skill is usually the “easiest” to replace.

[Steel Maniac]

Najee is not wrong - but I just don't know what RB's can do about it. I think teams have caught on that it's just not worth paying a guy past 5 years. There may be the occasional generational back like Walter Payton, but I just don't think there's that much of a falloff when you have to replace a guy - particularly if you paid attention to the O-Line and it's a standout unit.

They can't do anything about it. It's much ado about nothing. They can meet until the cows come home but nothing is changing for them or their pay scale. They better get smart, sign the franchise tags and get your money. Don't be a dummy like Leveon Bell. He's the poster boy for stupidity. Now he's running around here right now begging to come back to Steelerville ..begging to hang around camp again like some love starved school girl.

Be smart like Sequan Barkley this morning..who signed his contract. Because all he had to do was look at Leveon's dumb @ss and the choice should be easy. Josh Jacobs is about to mess up his career too; Just like Bell did.

[Steel Maniac]

Barkley just signed a deal that is incentives laden and the Giants can still tag him next season. He just lessened his 2024 value.

But what choice did he have? To do a Leveon Bell? How'd that turn out for Bell? Bell threw away 14 mil and made NO MONEY the year he held out.
Barkley did the right thing. Get your money now and continue to address the issue behind the scenes. Not that it's going to change. You can't make owners pay for something that comes in major supply. And that's runningbacks. There is an over abundance of them so why pay long term big money? Doesn't make business sense to them.

[feltdizz]

Bell got paid, he just got way too lazy in the year off and didn?t capitalize on his opportunity to cash in. But the money was there for him if he put in the work.

I still think the Steeler offer was fair even though it lacked the guaranteed money like most franchises give out in this day and age.

Delvin Cook is a GREAT example of a RB doing everything right and still got screwed. Signed a 5 yr 63 mill contract. How much of that did he actually get? Maybe a little less than half of it?

4 straight 1,000+ season?s on a second contract and still gets cut because they need to ?save money?

Prime example of how either way leads to frustration.

Delvin Cook: 6 years in NFL 32 mill in career earnings.

Bell: 7 years in NFL, 45 mill in career earnings? and he held out a full year.

Delvin should be able to squeeze out another $10 to $15 mill if he is lucky but what if that was his last big payday?

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

They can't do anything about it. It's much ado about nothing. They can meet until the cows come home but nothing is changing for them or their pay scale. They better get smart, sign the franchise tags and get your money. Don't be a dummy like Leveon Bell. He's the poster boy for stupidity. Now he's running around here right now begging to come back to Steelerville ..begging to hang around camp again like some love starved school girl.

Be smart like Sequan Barkley this morning..who signed his contract. Because all he had to do was look at Leveon's dumb @ss and the choice should be easy. Josh Jacobs is about to mess up his career too; Just like Bell did.

Was listening to the radio this morning and they were talking about the Barkley contract, and Jacobs etc. They were warning against what happened with Bell. I turned to my son and asked "did you think when Bell went through his trying to reset the RB market phase he realized that instead he would one day become the RB cautionary tale?"

The Saquon deal makes very little sense as I saw it. He can only sign a one year contract now, but it is for the franchise back rate plus less than $1M incentives and he didn't get the guarantee that they would not tag him again. I'm sure an extra week or two and they would have caved knowing that they wouldn't want a disgruntled back for a second tag anyway so come back and ball out and maybe we work it out.

[feltdizz]

Was listening to the radio this morning and they were talking about the Barkley contract, and Jacobs etc. They were warning against what happened with Bell. I turned to my son and asked "did you think when Bell went through his trying to reset the RB market phase he realized that instead he would one day become the RB cautionary tale?"

The Saquon deal makes very little sense as I saw it. He can only sign a one year contract now, but it is for the franchise back rate plus less than $1M incentives and he didn't get the guarantee that they would not tag him again. I'm sure an extra week or two and they would have caved knowing that they wouldn't want a disgruntled back for a second tag anyway so come back and ball out and maybe we work it out.

I think Barkley realized they wouldn’t cave to his demands.

I really don’t get his thinking since they offered him a contract. If he gets hurt.. its a wrap.

Not sure how Bell is the cautionary tale and not RB’s who signs for big dollars and only gets half of it before being released.


Either way RB’s are losing when you break down contract vs actual money earned.