Saquon Barkley’s situation leaves Mike Florio urging RBs to force NFL owners in fulfilling their demands
The current running back market devaluation has left many star backs like Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs, Ezekiel Elliott, Leonard Fournette and Kareem Hunt looking for answers.
With no teams willing to pay running backs what they are worth, NBC's Mike Florio and his partner in crime Chris Simms have come up with a plan to force the owners into meeting their demands.
It is left field, but in a piece for nbcsports.com, Florio writes that a strike of some sort might be the way forward.
Florio writes:
"The best (and only) viable way to get the league’s attention would be for the running backs to get every player at the position to commit to boycotting the voluntary offseason program in 2024.
Report: Top #NFL running backs planning a Zoom call for Saturday night to discuss their depressed market.
Multiple sources tell PFT's Mike Florio that #Chargers RB Austin Ekeler has organized the meeting and distributed the Zoom link.
All of the big-name running backs have… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… pic.twitter.com/KWA8JwjHBA" target="_blank" title="tweet-url" rel="noopener noreferrer">pic.twitter.com/KWA8JwjHBA
"Then, the running backs would need to make it clear to the league that, absent the implementation before Week One of an acceptable fund that rewards them as they go, they won’t be participating in the 2024 offseason program. The challenge will be getting all running backs to go along with this. It needs to be viewed as a picket line, no different than a strike. And it’s the best kind of strike because the workers lose nothing (other than any individual workout bonuses)."
Will Saquon Barkley and other RBs get what they are worth?
It may seem unnecessary but when the franchise tag deadline came and went with no long-term deals for either Saquon Barkley or Josh Jacobs, many wondered how it will mean going forward.
Barkley has previously stated that he might need to think about sitting out the 2023 season (we think is unlikely), and for Jacobs, who was the league's leading rusher last season, his future is equally up in the air.
Whether or not Florio and Simms' idea is something that can actually work is unknown, but for ALL running backs to agree, we have to remember there are those who are on a practice squad or are fighting to get onto the 53-man roster.
"There's a real chance they open the season 1-5... We are shaping up to have a fractured locker room in New York."
— @jasonrmcintyre on Saquon Barkley situation pic.twitter.com/YH2iOAESUr
Can they afford to be a part of this with no money behind them or stats to back up their claims? That is where it gets hard, but for the stars in Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs, they are the headliners in this situation, which shows no signs of resolution just yet.