Indianapolis Colts Owner Jim Irsay dipped his toe into the controversy surrounding contracts for NFL running backs with a comment that could be construed as a shot across the bow at Jonathan Taylor.
This offseason has been one of a major shift in how many teams value the running back position and how much they’re willing to pay even some of the game’s best players. Last weekend running backs across the league even held a Zoom meeting to discuss the current situation.
Enter Irsay on Wednesday who took to Twitter to weigh in on the conversation out of the blue.
“We have negotiated a CBA, that took years of effort and hard work and compromise in good faith by both sides,” the Colts owner tweeted. “To say now that a specific player category wants another negotiation after the fact, is inappropriate. Some Agents are selling ‘bad faith.’”
Plenty of current and former NFL backs have not been shy about sharing their feelings over the current state of affairs for the position.
Nevertheless, Irsay’s tweet would appear to mark the first time an owner has weighed in publicly.
And it holds even more significance since Irsay’s team’s star back is entering the final year of his contract and is hoping for a big payday.
Taylor even jumped into the fray after Saquon Barkley and the Giants and Josh Jacobs and the Las Vegas Raiders failed to come to terms on a long-term extension before the NFL-imposed deadline for players that were franchise tagged to agree to multi-year extensions.
He tweeted “wow” moments after the deadline passed and told ESPN in June that he had been monitoring the situations of Barkley and Jacobs.
“You see why guys request trades. They just want to feel valued by not only their coaches, their teammates, but the organization as well,” Taylor said.
Irsay’s comments aren’t likely to calm the discontent growing over how running backs are being valued around the league.
The change in perception stems from the narrative that players at the position are easily replaceable and due to their their high rate of injury and quick decline, they aren’t worth a high price tag.
“Only time when they choose to say that [the position] is devalued is when it’s time to pay the running back. … It’s not devalued at all. They just don’t want to pay a running back,” Steelers running back Najee Harris told reporters on Wednesday, according to ESPN.
“It’s like, man, what is the security that we have? We don’t have no security right now. You guys are using us to accomplish what you guys want. 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.’ ”