Former New England Patriots running back James White is speaking up for fellow NFL running backs Josh Jacobs and Saquon Barkley after both failed to get a new contract done with their respective teams.
Both Las Vegas Raiders RB Josh Jacobs and New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley were put on the franchise tag and were unable to get a deal finished before the franchise tag deadline, leaving both frustrated as running backs continue to be disrespected when it comes to contracts and money in the NFL.
White, who was a 3x Super Bowl champion with the Patriots, spoke on the hypocrisy when it comes to paying the running back position, saying, “if it was any other position … where guys perform like they did last season, they would get paid no doubt about it. they'd be getting paid top dollar,” per an interview with SiriusXM Radio.
Both Jacobs and Barkley eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards in 2022 as Jacobs led the league with 1,653 yards while Barkley finished 4th with 1,312 yards. Barkley in particular was instrumental the Giants first playoff run since 2016, but the Giants opted to flesh out a big deal to quarterback Daniel Jones instead.
"Any other position where guys perform like they did last season, they would get paid – no doubt about it."@SweetFeet_White talked about the lack of long-term deals for Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs#NFL | #NYGiants | #RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/gskEXKSYFG
— SiriusXM NFL Radio (@SiriusXMNFL) July 22, 2023
“Saquon, he was almost that entire offense … without Saquon Barkley that team doesn't make the playoffs. He's a franchise guy, you can't let a guy like that walk away,” per SiriusXM.
James White finished with a general suggestion on restructuring contracts in a more fair way to the running back position. “Maybe guys shouldn't get paid based off of position, they should get paid based off their value to the organization. Those Saquon Barkley jersey sales, those Josh Jacobs jersey sales, their value, production for the team,” per SiriusXM.
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