Kinda surprised neither teams sniffed around Zeke and Cook to try to put some pressure on Barkley/Jacobs, whether real or just for show
Cook more than Zeke. But, sounds like both Barkley and Jacobs have their heels dug in. Their agent has to ensure that both players understand how the CBA works and what their true leverage is at this point.
Timing and health are everything for a RB. CMC played in all 16 games during his first 3 years. He was a duo threat so had almost 1,100 combined in year 1, 1,900 in year 2, and almost 2,400 yards in year 3. That enabled him to get the 3 year $64 mill deal. Had he played year 4 where he got hurt and played just 3 games, no way Carolina does term with him.
Barkley tore his ACL in year 3, thus ended up playing out his 5th year option and not getting that contract like CMC after year 3. Timing of that injury. Maybe if he had another strong season in year 3, he signs for term with the Giants like CMC did with Carolina.
Jacobs, had 1,300 then 1,300 then 1,200 yards combined during his first 3 seasons, but his rushing totals dropped to under 900 in year 3. Thus, his 5th year option wasn't picked up by the new regime. Which in reality, he should be happy about now as that would have been worth just $8 mill this season, but would have given him a longer runway to get a new deal rather than this tag deadline today. Given the regime change and how the Pats operate, which is where the regime comes from, I doubt they want to pay RB big money.
Again, I think the resolution is probably to guarantee 2 years of the tag values for 23 and 24 seasons, then give them incentives to get an extra $3-4 mill. Via pure rushing totals and/or a combined rush/pass total. Tag values are like $10.1 and $12.2 mill so around $22.3 mill.
It's not fair that WR2 and even WR3 can make more than top tiered RBs. But, it's always the injury concerns for RB. Plus the number of RBs who signed for big money that fade fast like Gurley, Murray, Bell, CMC with injuries, Zeke, etc. within the last 5 years.
