As 4:01 p.m. ticked on the clock on July 17th, Monday ET, New York Giants’ Saquon Barkley, Las Vegas Raiders’ Josh Jacobs, and Dallas Cowboys’ Tony Pollard remained without an agreement to a long-term contract as the deadline for franchise tag players came to a close. Continuing a trend of running backs rarely getting big second contracts from the teams that drafted them.

The three running backs were the only players to not have reached a long-term deal that had received a franchise tag. Due to this, each of them will have to play the 2023 season on their franchise tenders (if they do not hold out). 

Pollard is the only one of the three to have signed his tender with the other two remaining unsigned.  He had a breakout season last year with 1,007 rushing yards, 9 touchdowns, and being selected for the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career. With the Cowboys not signing a running mate for Pollard yet, he may be looking to bet on himself as the true lead back in Dallas.

With a bounceback season in 2022 after battling with an ankle injury in 2021, Barkley had 10 touchdowns, 1,312 rushing yards, was selected for the Pro Bowl for the second time in his career and helped lead the Giants to a playoff appearance for the first time since 2016. 

Barkley had also gone to twitter after the deadline to tweet out “it is what it is”, Monday afternoon. So the future for the running back and the New York Giants definitely remains questionable. 

Jacobs, who had started last season as a trade candidate, came out of 2022 with the best season of his career with a league leading 1,653 total rushing yards, and also led the league in rushing yards per game with 97.2 yards and had 12 touchdowns. The running back also got selected for the Pro-Bowl for the second time since 2020 and made the AP All-Pro team for the first time in his career.

We will wait to see if Barkley or Jacobs sign their tenders which for running backs are worth $10.091 million or choose to sit out for the season. The NFL continues to be in an odd spot with running back value, as they continue to be drafted high, but rarely get paid what they are probably worth. On the flip side, few running backs have longevity and carry the most risk of any position for teams handing out extensions. It will be interesting to follow the Barkley and Jacobs developments as they unfold.