Did RBs get the short end of the new NFL deal ?

[DougW]

I was just thinking, they brought the rookie contracts down to earth - which IMO is a good thing. For most positions, I think this means they'll get $ according to how they're projected, and then be able to work to increase their payload with what they're actually "worth".

RBs are different though, I think. For the most part, because of their normal tenure, even many of the good ones won't get to see that "worth" check.

Am I over thinking this ?

[Drake]

I'd tend to agree with you because the career arc for even the most effective RBs tends to be so brief, but I think this partly a product of the times. The importance of a feature back has been dwindling in recent years.

I don't know if it's the influence of the West Coast offense, Denver's "we can turn anybody with 2 legs into a 1000 yard rusher", the influence of some secret sabrmetrics cabal or a combination of those and several other factors, but that just seems to be the state of the game right now.

Then again, I live an hour from Indianapolis, so I haven't seen an actual running game in like 6 years, so I could just be talking out of my ass.

[BigDPW]

Originally Posted by Drake

Then again, I live an hour from Indianapolis, so I haven't seen an actual running game in like 6 years, so I could just be talking out of my ass.

Thanks for my first laugh of the day... I needed it!

I think you are right about the role of the feature back being diminished over time and see where the RBs are getting the short end here too. I think it will be very interesting to see where things go over the next few years with this CBA as far as how it reshapes how young players are handled, drafted, and FA's are signed.

It will be interesting to see if the salary slots will have bigger role in pushing certain positions farther to the front of the draft (like QB) and others farther to the end of the draft (like RB and Safety).

[Glengoyne]

Yeah I couldn't believe the players agreed to that rookie term. Let's see a four year fixed price contract in a league where the average career is just a shade longer than three years. Such a deal.

[stevew]

I'm wondering what the actual rules are for the contracts now. The breakdown of the amounts/etc. If, for example, a team can now load the majority of the allocated salary into the first 3 years and set up a negotiation at that point, it's not going to be dramatically different for many of the players drafted outside of the top 10.

With the 4th year options, I'm not sure how much less these deals actually will be for players outside of the top 5. At pick 9 last year, Spiller got 5/25. Now the 9th picked player would be getting about 4/12, but the 5th year option is supposedly really high.

And in the last 10 drafts, 7 RB's have been selected in the top 10. Which includes the awesome 3way combo of Ronnie Brown/Ceddie Benson/Caddilac Williams. And Reggie Bush and CJ Spiller were also top 10 picks.

Basically AD is the only good top 10 back of this time period with Darrin McFadden a distant 2nd.

[Solecismic]

Running backs are the coal miners of the football world. Hopefully black lung disease is thoroughly covered in the new retired player medical pool.

[General Mike]

Originally Posted by Glengoyne

Yeah I couldn't believe the players agreed to that rookie term. Let's see a four year fixed price contract in a league where the average career is just a shade longer than three years. Such a deal.

What do they care? they got their money already. They were probably very happy to shift money from the rookie pool to the retired player pool that they'll eventually join.

[gstelmack]

Running backs are also becoming interchangable, and you don't have very many worth big deals.