Add Najee Harris to the list of players who believe running backs are being slighted in contract talks.
One day after the Giants and Saquon Barkley came to an agreement on a contract for the upcoming season, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ running back said the Giants slighted a major offensive cog for their team.
“Saquon accumulated for almost 30% of the offense,” Harris said Wednesday. “Why can’t you look at that and say, ‘OK, well he said he’s not trying to break the market or set the market, but he’s trying to get compensated of what he thinks is fair’ … I know that they know themselves, that ain’t fair what he’s getting. He wanted a long contract to know his security there.
“Right now, he doesn’t have no security. They’re just going to probably utilize him the same way. And if something happens to him again, they’re going to probably look somewhere else.”
Barkley rushed 295 times for 1,312 yards and 10 touchdowns last season, but that high usage can bite a running back when it comes time to negotiating salaries.
“You guys are using us to accomplish what you guys want,” Harris said. “And then when it’s time for us to re-up or ask for something that we think is right, you guys just turn the cheek and say, ‘Well, you have wear and tear.’”
Barkley, like most high-caliber backs, was also a receiving threat.
He had 338 receiving yards with an average of six yards per reception – yet another reason why Harris believes running backs deserve higher compensation.
Harris is entering his third season in the league, and has already amassed 579 carries and 2,234 yards for Pittsburgh.
The franchise tag for running backs is the second-lowest for any position at $10.1 million, ahead of only the $5.4 million for kickers.
“For them to say that the running back position, you’re slotted at this much money, I don’t think that that’s right because of what we’re asked to do,” said Harris, who has two years left on his rookie contract.
“There’s a lot of running backs who’s doing receiving. There’s a lot of running backs doing blocking and all that stuff. For you to just say running back and that’s our market, and if it doesn’t hit that, then it goes down lower. That’s not right.”
Barkley can earn with incentives $11.1 million this upcoming season, a $900,000 increase from the Giants’ initial offer.
But if the league’s stance on running back’s value doesn’t change, he may face a similar situation with negotiating a contract next offseason.
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