Update (1:58 PM): Najee Harris was reportedly one of many running backs to attend the meeting.
Our original story is below.
Most Zoom meetings are boring “work stuff.” And they really should’ve been an email. But several NFL running backs figure to be fired up Saturday night.
Per Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, Los Angeles Chargers’ RB Austin Ekeler is organizing a Zoom meeting for fellow running backs around the league to determine their next steps in handling and correcting their depressed market.
From Florio:
“It started as a group text exchange on Monday. Next, disgruntled NFL running backs will meet via Zoom to discuss their depressed market.
Per multiple sources, the session is scheduled for Saturday night.
Chargers running back Austin Ekeler has organized the meeting and distributed the Zoom link. All of the big-name running backs have been invited.
The NFL Players Association apparently will be involved in some capacity.”
It’s unclear if Pittsburgh Steelers’ RB Najee Harris is attending. But he’s in line for a payday in a few years and expressed his frustration over the situation on Twitter, recently tweeting he agrees with his upset running backs and the “notion that we deserve less is a joke.”
Running backs like Josh Jacobs, Saquon Barkley, and Tony Pollard were slapped with the franchise tag this offseason and could not reach long-term deals with their teams before last week’s deadline. They are not threatening to holdout though provided they don’t go the Le’Veon Bell route, will show up before the season begins and play under the tag. Ekeler is under contract but expressed a desire for a new contract.
For Harris, the Steelers will determine whether or not to pick up his fifth-year option next offseason that will apply for the 2025 year. If he has a strong season in 2023, he may begin angling for a long-term deal but a lack of leverage will make it tough to convince Pittsburgh to pay him more than they have to. With a final year of his rookie year, the fifth-year option, and an always-looming franchise tag, he has little options to get the Steelers to pay him a hefty second contract.
A solution to the running back’s ills will be hard to find. The latest CBA was just signed in 2020 and runs through 2030. A player’s strike seems like the only possibility but with the grievance relating to just one position, it’ll be hard to organize that on a mass-scale. And if all the running backs decide to report, on top of the fines they’ll face, the league will have plenty of backups, free agents, and players from other leagues (like the XFL and USFL) to replace them with. After all, the core problem is that the NFL views running backs as fungible and replaceable.
Former NFL agent Joel Corry recently laid out his thoughts on the running back market and what changes – if any – can be implemented. It’s well worth your time.
Perhaps we’ll find out later this week which running backs attended this meeting. One thing is for sure. They’ve been vocal in their displeasure.
