Fed up after Josh Jacobs and Saquon Barkley's desires for long-term contracts went unmet by the Las Vegas Raiders and New York Giants, respectively, football's top running backs are reportedly mulling direct action to address their ever-declining positional value.

Los Angeles Chargers star Austin Ekeler has organized a Saturday night Zoom meeting involving fellow running backs left disgruntled by their collectively depressed financial market, according to Mike Florio of ProFootball Talk. The NFL Players Association will also participate in the discussion.

Both Jacobs and Barkley, two of the league's top-four leading rushers in 2022, sought new, multi-year contracts from their teams this offseason. Talks never came close to meeting their demands, though, the Raiders and Giants fully understanding the increasingly small shelf life of high-usage players at football's most physically taxing position.

Jacobs and Barkley will be forced to play this season on the $10.09 million franchise tag after Monday's deadline for long-term deals came and went without new contracts in place. Neither player has signed the franchise tender yet, however, leading to speculation they could sit out 2023—a threat Saquon Barkley recently issued publicly.

“My leverage is I could say, ‘F— you' to the Giants, I could say, ‘F— you to my teammates,” he said on The Money Matters podcast, per ESPN. “And be like, ‘You want me to show you my worth? You want me to show you how valuable I am to the team? I won't show up. I won't play a down.' And that's a play I could use.”

There are significant obstacles toward running backs' push for the financial security they deserve, including from some factions of the NFLPA.

Every additional dollar used to pay running backs would be taken away from the pool of money available to all players, and owners—all of whom hold immense independent wealth even before accounting for their status as stewards of a multi-billion dollar professional sports franchise—will no doubt work in unison to deny any efforts to increase salary commitments.

Here's hoping whatever changes Austin Ekeler's group vies for are ultimately implemented. Football is an inherently violent, punishing sport, and no position bears the brunt of that reality like running back.