The NFL market for running backs has been brutal over the past couple of years, and it seems like it has reached an all-time low this season.
Former stars like Leonard Fournette, Melvin Gordon, Ezekiel Elliott, and Kareem Hunt have gauged little-to-no interest around the league, while Dalvin Cook is still unsigned at this point in the offseason.
Not even the two best players on their respective teams, Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs, could get an extension despite their impact and talent, and both of them might refuse to play under the franchise tag this season.
That’s why NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky urged the league to sit down and figure out a way to solve the “broken” RB market.
.@danorlovsky7 reacts to the Giants and Saquon not reaching a long-term deal:
"The running back market is broken. … And that is a massive issue that the NFL has to fix." pic.twitter.com/8kbInXtlY7
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) July 18, 2023
Per Orlovsky, it’s understandable that organizations are unwilling or hesitant to give up big money or long-term deals to running backs, granted that they fall from grace sooner and more drastically than the average player at other positions.
However, they also need to reward those stars at the position, citing that the Giants wouldn’t even be a playoff team without Saquon Barkley last year.
Moreover, Orlovsky predicts there won’t be that many children playing running back in the future if this doesn’t get fixed, as it simply wouldn’t be worth the risk anymore.
The game needs RBs, even if they’re more expendable nowadays, and the league will need to sort things out before this current market crisis becomes somewhat of a catastrophe for the game we love so much.
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