The Plight of the N.F.L. Running Back

N.F.L. operating backs, as soon as the face of many groups, have fallen thus far in relative worth over the previous few many years that it has amounted to a public demotion.

They have seen their contributions derided by knowledge analysts, and their pay slip in relation even to unglamorous offensive linemen. This previous low season, some staged holdouts and others organized a Zoom name to attempt to struggle in opposition to their predicament. But the evolution of the sport towards passing — and a wage construction that doesn’t reward their transient prime years — could imply that operating backs by no means recuperate the market energy they as soon as had.

In 1997, Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions was the second-highest-paid participant within the league — a time when operating again was nonetheless one of many marquee positions in all of American sports activities. Today, not a single one is ranked within the high 100.

And since 2011, the earliest 12 months for which full knowledge was accessible, whole pay for operating backs and fullbacks has elevated solely about 11 p.c. For each different offensive place, whole pay has elevated at the least 90 p.c.

To be clear, beginning operating backs nonetheless make a wholesome residing. Last season, among the many N.F.L.’s 32 groups, the 32 highest-paid operating backs made a mean of $5 million. But the common pay of a top-32 offensive lineman final 12 months was $16.9 million.

This 12 months the highest-paid operating again by reported common annual pay is Christian McCaffrey of the San Francisco 49ers at $16 million. This is barely about 30 p.c as a lot because the highest-paid quarterback, Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers ($52 million common).

There is not any single motive operating backs’ pay is flat; a confluence of things is working in opposition to them.

Teams prioritize passing — though they nonetheless run the ball loads.

While the N.F.L. has turn into extra of a passing league than it was many years in the past, by some surface-level metrics the everyday recreation has not modified a lot. In 2000, dashing makes an attempt accounted for 46 p.c of all offensive snaps and 35 p.c of all yards. In 2022, dashing makes an attempt accounted for 45 p.c of offensive snaps and 35 p.c of all yards.

But not all yards are created equal. “Very few backs are weapons on third down,” when groups usually move to attempt to preserve a drive alive, mentioned Randy Mueller, a former normal supervisor for the Miami Dolphins and New Orleans Saints.

The devaluing of operating backs has coincided with their “devaluing on the field,” Mueller mentioned. He pointed to McCaffrey’s skill as a move catcher as the rationale he instructions such a big contract.

Since the 2010 season, just one Super Bowl winner (the 2013 Seattle Seahawks) has positioned within the backside half of the league in passing yards, however eight have been within the backside half in dashing yards. Kansas City gained the Super Bowl in February after an everyday season with the No. 1-ranked passing recreation and the Twentieth-ranked dashing recreation.

Running backs are seen as interchangeable.

Even groups that care extra about enhancing their operating video games have began to imagine that allocating cash towards a single participant just isn’t at all times price it.

In 2000, the highest operating again on every group was accountable, on common, for near 60 p.c of his group’s regular-season whole dashing yards. But groups at the moment are way more prone to disperse the workload. Last season, the groups’ high rushers gathered 47 p.c of all dashing yards.

Tony Pollard, a operating again for the Dallas Cowboys, was paid $11 million much less final season than the starter, Ezekiel Elliott, however rushed for extra yards on fewer makes an attempt — one in every of a number of high-profile examples in recent times of a backup’s efficiency surpassing a star’s. That has led groups to deal with the distinction between stars, backups and unsigned free brokers as smaller than they used to, which has diminished the worth of operating backs collectively.

“Relative to other positions, there is less of a difference between the top talent running backs and those on the border of the 53-man roster,” mentioned Kevin Meers, a former director of analysis and technique for the Cleveland Browns.

Teams are investing in offensive traces as a substitute.

Total pay for offensive linemen has doubled since 2011. The logic is straightforward: A powerful offensive line advantages the operating recreation whether or not the beginning or backup operating again has the ball, and in addition helps the passing recreation considerably.

In 1990, in response to knowledge from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 13 of 28 N.F.L. groups paid their high operating again greater than their highest-paid offensive lineman. In 2011, solely seven of 32 groups did. Going into 2023, just one operating again, Derrick Henry of the Tennessee Titans, is ready to be paid extra (as measured in common annual worth) than every of his teammates on the offensive line.

In 2013, operating backs had been sometimes the sixth-highest-paid place of what might be thought of the 11 offensive starters. Now they’re the eighth. Last season, on 17 of 32 groups the second-highest-paid broad receiver was paid greater than the highest-paid operating again.

Ball carriers are sometimes previous their prime when their rookie contracts expire.

The 2011 collective bargaining settlement between the N.F.L. gamers’ union and the group homeowners damage the power of operating backs to be paid properly throughout their early, most efficient seasons. The deal mandates that drafted gamers signal a rookie contract — on a rookie wage scale — for 4 years, with the potential for negotiating an extension solely after 12 months three.

Peter Schaffer, an agent who has represented operating backs together with Sanders and Jerome Bettis, mentioned the set period of contracts “truly affects the compensation.” Running backs, who have a tendency to achieve their profession peak at a youthful age than different gamers, spend their prime years locked right into a rookie contract and are sometimes seen by groups as declining in worth by the point they’ll signal a brand new deal.

Schaffer mentioned the compensation supplied underneath the franchise tag, a system that enables groups to lock a participant into an additional 12 months earlier than he turns into a free agent, was low. The collective bargaining settlement that dictates guidelines across the rookie wage scale and franchise tag course of expires in 2030.

There’s no easy strategy to measure a place’s peak age, however the median age for All-Pro operating backs since 2000 has been 25, whereas the median age for All-Pro quarterbacks has been 30. Running backs are unlikely to have their most efficient and wholesome seasons even of their late 20s.

Another manner of measuring longevity: Since 2000, solely 24 p.c of beginning N.F.L. operating backs had been nonetheless beginning 4 years later, decrease than the 33 p.c price for broad receivers and 47 p.c price for quarterbacks.

When groups are confronted with the selection of paying a high-performing participant coming off a rookie contract, or drafting a rookie who shall be on a good contract for a number of years, the chance of paying a premium for a participant who could quickly be in decline is usually unappealing.

Phillip Lindsay’s profession trajectory just isn’t unusual. In 2018, he signed as an undrafted free agent with the Denver Broncos. His rookie season, when he was 24, was his greatest 12 months, and he was named to a Pro Football Writers of America All-A.F.C. group. By the time he was in a position to signal his second contract, he was turning 27 and his productiveness had already tremendously declined. His profession earnings had been slightly below $6 million earlier than he left the N.F.L. and joined the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL.

“There’s really nothing we can do,” the Browns’ Nick Chubb, a four-time Pro Bowler, advised reporters in July after collaborating within the operating backs’ Zoom name to debate pay.

“If we go out there and run 2,000 yards with so many carries, the next year they’re going to say you’re probably worn down.”