The worst fear shared by Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs, J.K. Dobbins and Jonathan Taylor already happened to Maurice Jones-Drew.
The four most prominent running backs engaged in 2023 NFL offseason contract disputes resolved their business in four different ways:
- Barkley (Giants) signed his franchise tag and reported for the start of training camp.
- Jacobs (Raiders) held out to get a one-year base-salary raise over the franchise-tag value.
- Dobbins (Ravens) ended his hold-in without receiving any additional compensation.
- Taylor (Colts) took his demand for a contract extension or a trade all the way to cut day and wound up on the Physically Unable to Perform list (out for four games).
One thing all four stars have in common, however, is the need to avoid a serious injury this season without long-term contract security — also known as what happened to Jones-Drew when he ended his 38-day holdout without receiving a new deal in 2012.
Jones-Drew’s strong five-game start was quickly derailed when he suffered a Lisfranc injury to his left foot, but he wasn’t put on injured reserve as the team held out hope of his late-season return. Ironically.
Comments
Powered by RoundtableBuilt on infrastructure designed for real-time media. Learn more at RTB.io.© Roundtable 2026. By using this site you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy