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2023 Free Agent RB Class is STACKED (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter LawFitz
- Start date
Do teams "break the bank" for these guys with the realization that RBBC is a solid strategy (positional value) plus the fact that this year's draft class is very solid by all accounts? I think that will suppress values since some of these guys have some injury and inconsistency issues.
FairWarning
Footballguy
Few of these will pan out for other teams considering the salary. It’s the sad reality of the position.
Ben & Jerry's
Footballguy
Someone might not have to "break the bank" for some of these guys, they just need to outbid their current teams.
I think the Raiders let Jacobs walk, but I would be surprised if Barkley and Pollard don't get new contracts from Giants/Cowboys.
I think the Raiders let Jacobs walk, but I would be surprised if Barkley and Pollard don't get new contracts from Giants/Cowboys.
My opinions above, I don’t think most of the marquee names make it to FA, but stranger things have happened. A couple of them might end up shopping themselves and signing back with their old teams aka Fournette this year.
GoBirds
Footballguy
See Todd Gurley. That contract has to scare many.
Down Under
Footballguy
Alex P Keaton
Footballguy
I don’t see either Jacobs or Pollard breaking the bank. Maybe Saquon does — but that would shock me unless he stays with the Giants.
FreeBaGeL
Footballguy
People have been saying this ever since Chris Johnson but teams just keep doing it year after year, over and over. Not sure when we'll hit a breaking point, if we ever do.
northern exposure
Footballguy
Good points. I think the best hope for the top guys to break the bank is to sign a long term deal with their current team. Most teams don't seem to value the RB position as highly as they used to and aren't spending as freely on them in Free Agency.
Hot Sauce Guy
Footballguy
I think it’s a little thinner than it appears.
Jamaal Williams will be 28. Still has some juice but doubt he commands a big contract or lands a feature back role.
Harris isn’t great, injury prone.
Mostert is 30
Cowboys would be nuts to let pollard leave the building without a contract. I am betting they retain him.
Wilson Jr & Singletary are both kind of products of their offense. Neither will be in high demand other than as RBBC guys. Sanders also, likely. Eagles probably find a way to keep him there.
Penny’s injury history - yikes
Hunt….before this season I would have had him in high demand, but he’s been super meh. Some have suggested that when he didn’t get dealt he’s been trying to keep himself healthy for FA, but that hardly makes him appealing.
Saquan is the prize. Monty 2nd in demand if teams are smart. Both only 25. Monty has been very good considering the team around him. He still had that elusiveness that made him a 3rd rounder. And Saquan is obviously a premier RB now that he’s healthy again.
IMO, assuming Pollard remains a cowboy, the FA class is 2 deep, with a bunch of role players.
Jamaal Williams will be 28. Still has some juice but doubt he commands a big contract or lands a feature back role.
Harris isn’t great, injury prone.
Mostert is 30
Cowboys would be nuts to let pollard leave the building without a contract. I am betting they retain him.
Wilson Jr & Singletary are both kind of products of their offense. Neither will be in high demand other than as RBBC guys. Sanders also, likely. Eagles probably find a way to keep him there.
Penny’s injury history - yikes
Hunt….before this season I would have had him in high demand, but he’s been super meh. Some have suggested that when he didn’t get dealt he’s been trying to keep himself healthy for FA, but that hardly makes him appealing.
Saquan is the prize. Monty 2nd in demand if teams are smart. Both only 25. Monty has been very good considering the team around him. He still had that elusiveness that made him a 3rd rounder. And Saquan is obviously a premier RB now that he’s healthy again.
IMO, assuming Pollard remains a cowboy, the FA class is 2 deep, with a bunch of role players.
Wigglytuff's Gruff
Footballguy
No need to break the bank for any of them. You break the bank for scarce assets. As there are many on that list, and equally as many good looking running backs in the draft, no need to overpay.
Jacobs is younger than Monty and better by a good margin.
IMO, none of Jacobs, Barkley or Pollard will make it to FA. Miles finally had a good year but I don’t think it’s enough to make up for the previous 3 to where he’ll be a priority FA. Monty was good previously but not this year so same deal. Think both those two maybe shop around and sign after the first round of FA (possibly even back with their old teams like Fournette.) The rest are either old or bit players. Of that next tier, think it’s likely Hunt and Jamaal resign with their current teams for relatively cheap 2 year deals.
zamboni
Footballguy
This is my sense, too. If you look at current RB contracts, IMO "breaking the bank" is going to be less than what we saw as recently as a few years ago. If I had to guess, maybe $10-12 million AAV for 3 years, give or take.
Between the supply of free agent RBs, the recognition by teams that they don't need to pay up for the position, and the strong rookie crop, IMO the bulk of these free agents will have to take smaller deals either with their current teams or elsewhere.
Unfortunately for us in fantasy, that's likely going to create an increase in frustrating RBBCs, as many teams whose RB situation had previously been clear is no longer clear once some of these FAs are brought in.
TripleThreat
Footballguy
wouldn't surprise me in the least if both Mostert and Wilson resign with the Dolphins... Wilson in particular but Raheem has been good this year.
ShamrockPride
Footballguy
I think Barkley is the only one that gets his bag.
He’s been a stud from the second he touched an NFL field. He’s proven the injury hasn’t impacted his abilities.
Jacobs or Pollard are probably the 2 next likely, but before this year, they’ve both only been above average - good.
A lengthy track record, ESPECIALLY for an RB, goes longer for a RB than any other position, and even then they’ll only get one big contract in their careers.
He’s been a stud from the second he touched an NFL field. He’s proven the injury hasn’t impacted his abilities.
Jacobs or Pollard are probably the 2 next likely, but before this year, they’ve both only been above average - good.
A lengthy track record, ESPECIALLY for an RB, goes longer for a RB than any other position, and even then they’ll only get one big contract in their careers.
To expand, I think Jacobs gets franchised. Didn’t seem the Raiders valued him this past off-season, but he’s had too good a year to let him walk IMO. Franchise him and you get to see if one year was just an aberration.
Pollard makes more sense to resign and then probably restructure Zeke to keep the 1-2 punch. But who knows with Jerry Jones? There’s already media speculation that he’s hot to draft Bijan.
Pollard makes more sense to resign and then probably restructure Zeke to keep the 1-2 punch. But who knows with Jerry Jones? There’s already media speculation that he’s hot to draft Bijan.
Statorama
gangster
Hunt's case is interesting. I'd expect he's going to get a lot "one year prove it" offers, but he'll be 28 when the 2023 season kicks off and RB wheels have a short expiry date. He'll probably end up filling in where a RB leaves. If Monty leaves CHI, that's probably his best bet. Bears have cap room so they can probably give him the most cash and he'd be the lead RB on a team that wants to run the ball. Best case for Kareem, he has a solid year and helps the Bears make the playoffs and they give him a 3 year deal with a nice signing bonus. The Bears seem like his best path to getting a good multi-year offer. The only other one that's ringing for me is Miami. Not a lot of competition there and they already have a solid offense he can slide into. Given their other spots, I don't think they can drive the money truck up to Jacobs/Pollard/Barkley levels - but I kind of see them giving medium money to someone like Singletary.
If Hunt just wants a ring, the world is his oyster. If he's willing to take low money to play the role he's playing today, I can't see any legit playoff team in the league (outside of KC) not lining up to his door with a pen and a contract. If Singletary walks I'm sure Buffalo wouldn't mind Hunt backing up Cook.
If Hunt just wants a ring, the world is his oyster. If he's willing to take low money to play the role he's playing today, I can't see any legit playoff team in the league (outside of KC) not lining up to his door with a pen and a contract. If Singletary walks I'm sure Buffalo wouldn't mind Hunt backing up Cook.
zamboni
Footballguy
Hunt is probably among the most likely RBs to create a messy RBBC with an incumbent that was thought to have a command of the backfield. Hunt is really good and will probably come cheap - great for NFL, lousy for the fantasy backfield.
Hot Sauce Guy
Footballguy
Agreed.
Hot Sauce Guy
Footballguy
That would be such a good landing spot from a FF perspective. Aging & bad-knee Zeke in a time share at first, then BOOM.
would be shocked if Giants pay big money to Barkley.
Mgmt is from the same brain trust as Brandon Beane, which recognizes RB is not where high draft picks or cap dollars go to die
more likely to steal Singletary from the Bills for mid-level deal
Hot Sauce Guy
Footballguy
I don’t know that the Raiders agree that he’s better. I’m also not sure the Raiders will want to invest the $ he’s likely to command, assuming he stays healthy through season’s end.
Those two were FA's last year and demand was weak. I don't expect that to change.
Hot Sauce Guy
Footballguy
Agreed here, too. Giants need to worry about a lot more than RB, and Daboll certainly didn’t mind going cheap in BUF.
Hot Sauce Guy
Footballguy
Yeah, especially given age/injury history.
Hot Sauce Guy
Footballguy
I actively pursued him because he’s an unrestricted FA. Gave up Mariotta + Zay Jones for Mattison+Bell.
IMO, either the Vikes let Cook go and sign Mattison to be the feature back, or they watch the younger RB who knows their system walk for nothing.
I’m kinda betting on the latter but would prefer the former. I doubt they keep both.
Mattison should not have been omitted from this list. I think he gets more interest then half these RB's. Little wear and tear, only 6 months older then Rachaad White. Donta Foreman as well should be on this list. As much at surprises me to say it Perine might have played himself into a few more million a year as well and again someone I think will get more interest then a few of these RB's.
Obviously this list will shrink before full on FA with some teams resigning some but will be interesting if see some old vets added to this list. Players like Fournette, Zeke. They won't be in high demand if they hit the open market but can sure alter/mess up some backfields.
Hot Sauce Guy
Footballguy
Totally agree. IMO he’s a top 3 RB FA. Maybe higher since his price should be lower than the name-guys like Jacobs & Barkley.
Hot Sauce Guy
Footballguy
Agree here too. And with Chris Evans waiting in the wings, he’s likely expendable to Cinci, thus unlikely to remain.
I just posted something about Mattison and did not see you had already brought him up. I was offered him for a second while OTC last year in a league I have Dalvin and took it. I have since traded Dalvin but still ok having paid that for Mattison.
Ministry of Pain
Footballguy
Why can't New York slap the franchise tag on Barkley?
Hot Sauce Guy
Footballguy
I think he’s totally worth a 2nd.
His price can only go up if he lands a feature back role - and GMs should be reasonably confident since he’s filled in for Cook admirably several times.
I could see him in NYG to replace Saquan as well.
Hot Sauce Guy
Footballguy
He’s an unrestricted free agent.
zamboni
Footballguy
Thought you can slap the tag on for one UFA.
There has been talk/rumors of them doing exactly that and it makes 100% perfect sense for the Giants. It would suck for Barkely however and while there is not a lot he can do about I'm not sure the Giants will play hardball with him in that manner and at least offer him something with a little more security then a one year deal but all the time using the power of the franchise tag in negotiations.
Hot Sauce Guy
Footballguy
Oh - huh. Maybe so. It would be expensive AF.
OTC is projected it to be $12.6m for RB's and they are also show the Giants as having the third most cap space next year with around $60M.
zamboni
Footballguy
It would be the average of the top 5 salaries at the position. So guessing around $12-15 million for one year.
Ministry of Pain
Footballguy
3 yrs ______ fill in the blank, I'll say $30M-$36M
But it would be easier to franchise tag for 1 year, top salary is $12M and then it slides to $8M, $8M, about $6M in base salary gets you top 5 paid at RB
Hot Sauce Guy
Footballguy
do we really think Daboll would want to do this?3 yrs ______ fill in the blank, I'll say $30M-$36M
But it would be easier to franchise tag for 1 year, top salary is $12M and then it slides to $8M, $8M, about $6M in base salary gets you top 5 paid at RB
That’s a team with a LOT of holes. MULTIPLE OL, LB, WR (wow do they need WRs), CB, oh yeah, and maybe QB since Danny 2 nickels has been much of the same.
And they didn’t take DJ’s option, so….
Saquan feels like a luxury at $12M+
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LawFitz
Footballguy
Ditto this for the Raiders and Jacobs.
Hot Sauce Guy
Footballguy
With McD as HC, I have low confidence that the Raiders will pay Jacobs $12M
Blick
Footballguy
Every year we get excited about the what if scenario that RB A goes to Team B and becomes a stud. It seems that more often than not, the test the FA market and end up back with their team. I could easily see that with all of these guys especially considering the depth at RB in this class.
