This offseason has completely changed the financial landscape of the NFL. A position that some see as obsolete and replaceable has seen an increase in value. Do running backs actually matter?
This all started with the huge extension that the Carolina Panthers handed to Christian McCaffrey back in April. The four-year $64 million extension, $38 million guaranteed, made McCaffrey the highest paid running back in NFL history.
Now nobody is expecting the Browns to give Nick Chubb that type of money because that would be a massive overpay. We already saw the Browns give Kareem Hunt a two-year extension worth $13.25 million, so you have to assume that Chubb will be getting his bag soon. However, there were a couple extensions thrown around recently to Dalvin Cook, Joe Mixon and Alvin Kamara, the latter two of which are more in Chubb’s tier of play.
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Cook’s extension, a five-year deal worth $63 million, is understandable because of the tremendous upside he has. An incredible downhill runner, the only knock on Cook is his health. If he can remain healthy then this extension is well deserved.
Vikings’ RB Dalvin Cook is signing a five-year, $63 million deal, per sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 12, 2020
Earlier this month we saw a division rival lock up their star running back with the Bengals and Joe Mixon. Mixon, one of the more underrated players in the league, signed his four-year extension worth $48 million on the first of the month. The signing in particular could put pressure on Andrew Berry to lock up Chubb long term.
Full details on the #Bengals deal for RB Joe Mixon’s 4-year, $48M deal:
— $10M signing bonus. $1.3M base in 2020.
— $8M base in 2021.
— $8M in 2022.
— $9.4M in 2023.
— Club option for $9.6M in 2024.
— $500K each year in playtime and $200K offseason workout bonus each year.— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 1, 2020
Finally, the Saints locked up Alvin Kamara on Saturday on a five-year $75 million extension. The Saints pulled an interesting power move and shopped Kamara to show that his value wasn’t nearly as high as he thought it was yet they still gave him an insane amount of money.
Sources: The #Saints & star RB Alvin Kamara have reached an agreement on a huge 5-year contract extension worth $75M in new money. He gets $77.133M overall and a $15M signing bonus. Kamara cashes in. Agent Damarius Bilbo of Klutch Sports did the deal. 💰 💰 💰
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 12, 2020
Coming off two great seasons, it’s time to start looking towards Chubb’s next contract. The real question is will it be with the Browns? He’s coming off his lone Pro Bowl season in which he rushed for nearly 1,500 yards, which made him the league’s second leading rusher by only 46 yards, and had 278 receiving yards. Will Andrew Berry elect to extend Chubb or look to use his production as incentives in a trade package that could bring in a player at a position of need? We’ll have to see.
