The market value for RBs in today’s NFL is shrinking very rapidly. In a league that once adorned its playmakers with big contracts, and guaranteed money, it has now folded under the pressure of one key factor – Are these playmakers worth the financial investment?

On Monday, July 17th the league was rocked with a developing story in which the NY Giants put the franchise tag on star RB Saquon Barkley. Also notably, the Las Vegas Raiders put the franchise tag on RB Josh Jacobs and the Dallas Cowboys did the same for RB Tony Pollard. In a series of heated emotions and disbelief, several top RBs took to twitter to voice their frustrations about the matter:

Most notably, Jonathan Taylor also took to Twitter to voice his frustration. This is significant because he has yet to get a deal from the Colts and these developing stories are not helping his case.

There are deals that have been made in recent years that solidify a team’s commitment to their star running back. Browns RB Nick Chubb signed a 3-year $36M extension in 2021 and Titans RB Derrick Henry signed a 4-year $50M extension in 2020. Let’s not forget everything the 49ers gave the Carolina Panthers in order to get RB Christian McCaffrey.

The issue for organizations right now is the value of their investment. Let’s face it, the NFL, in large part, is a business first and within a business, sacrifices and unfair treatment will happen in order to keep the money flowing. Running backs are not near as valuable as quarterbacks, but the amount of playmaking that is required is comparable. RBs are asked to run in between moving brick walls, catch out of the back field and down the field, and block big edge rushers and blitzers.

All of these facets, though, deteriorate the longevity of a RB to the point that the average playing career length for them in the NFL is 2.57 years which is the lowest amongst positions across the league. The peak age for RBs is between 24-26 years which insinuates that the longer a back plays, the smaller his value becomes.

This article is not to rake on the top RBs, but rather to bring to light a problem that is not an easy one to fix. Certainly, good quality players should be rewarded for their contribution to a team and we can see, based on what they are asked to do, that RBs are an important component to a team. However, what is an individual RB’s value to a team long term? The current market, data, and analytics would suggest that the value in an individual RB is not worth the investment.

So what does this mean for Jonathan Taylor and Indianapolis Colts who have yet to solidify a deal? Chris Ballard has already been burned twice when paying his players top dollar. OL Quentin Nelson was made the highest paid guard in 2022 and he just came off the worst season of his career. LB Shaquille Leonard was made one of the highest paid linebackers in 2021 with his contract extension and he just came off an injury ridden year in which there are still questions about his ability to come back fully healthy.

Taylor still has one year left on his rookie contract, so the Colts could very well do nothing in terms of an extension and just look to 2024. If there is one thing that is true about Chris Ballard, though, it is that he rewards good players that contribute to his team. If Taylor continues to play at a high level in 2023, an extension will probably be in order for 2024. However, Taylor wants an extension this year and he has played at a high level, barring an injury plagued 2022.

The Colts are between a rock and a hard place as they try to keep their star player happy and also to be smart financially. Regardless of what is decided, Chris Ballard will make the decision that he thinks is best to move this team forward.