The Carolina Panthers were one of the only teams to make a true splash in the free agent running back market this offseason. They signed Miles Sanders, formerly of the Philadelphia Eagles, to a four-year, $25.4 million deal to become their new lead back, replacing D’Onta Foreman.
That is the top deal for a running back this offseason despite Pro Bowl-caliber players in Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs and Tony Pollard all being free agents. That trio all received franchise tags, as the running back market has been devalued in recent years.
It has been a topic of discussion now for a few weeks as those players are all negotiating long-term deals with their respective teams. Not much ground has been made, which has frustrated some people.
Despite getting a solid contract from the Panthers, Sanders himself is likely underpaid as well. The stagnant running back market is something that he recently spoke about during an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show.
“It’s nothing that we’re doing wrong,” Sanders said. “We’re doing everything that we have to do as far as on the field and stuff like that. For people and GMs or owners to think that running backs are not as valued as much is a lie because you’ve got to see how everything plays out. You’ve got to see what guys like Christian McCaffrey, the stuff he does, things that Saquon Barkley (does), the things that Josh Jacobs (does) consistently each year. …
“You want to franchise tag and create a certain market for running backs just because you have this way of thinking that they only last three or four years. I think it’s B.S., honestly. Almost every running back is underpaid right now. I don’t know what it’s gonna take. That’s a topic that needs to be brought up a little more because it sucks to be a running back right now, honestly.”
In addition to the small deals in free agency, we saw some prominent running backs have to alter deals this offseason. Aaron Jones took a pay cut to remain with the Green Bay Packers while Dalvin Cook was released by the Minnesota Vikings.
The presence of the franchise tag is something that Sanders believes capped his market and led to the deal he signed with the Panthers.
“Just to really try to get a deal done because I know that the numbers were dropping literally daily as soon as free agency started,” he said when asked about inking his deal early in the process. “Once they made the market $10 million, it was very hard to even negotiate anything even more than that or get like a deal that everybody’s been dreaming of — the Christian McCaffrey deal, the Alvin Kamara deal. It is what it is. It makes me hungrier. I’m a still go and do what I do each year and hopefully earn, force a new contract.”
This will be something to keep an eye on for the rest of the offseason. If players such as Barkley are struggling to land long-term deals, it will be tough for any running back to receive a contract offer for what they are truly worth.
Sanders is coming off of a career season with the Eagles but still landed a contract that pays him just over $6 million annually from the Panthers. While teams don’t want to commit big money to running backs, they still deserve to be paid their worth, which they don’t feel they are getting currently.
