Highest Average Paid RBs based on % of League Cap at Signing
1. Alvin Kamara, 7.5%
2. Christian McCaffrey, 7.4%
3. Jonathan Taylor, 6.2%
4. Saquon Barkley, 4.9%
5. Josh Jacobs, 4.7%
6. Rhamondre Stevenson, 3.5%
7. James Conner, 3.36%
8. Joe Mixon, 3.33%
T9. D'Andre Swift, 3.13%…— Spotrac (@spotrac) June 20, 2024
As Alvin Kamara pursues a contract extension with the New Orleans Saints, let’s take a look at his current contract within the landscape of running back paydays.
Spotrac shared an interesting breakdown of the highest-paid running backs based on contract averages as a percentage of the salary cap when they signed. The key words are at signing. Kamara signed his contract in 2020, and he accounted for 7.5% of salary cap at the time.
The timing of this tweet has led some to question why Kamara would want a new contract. Once again, these figures are at the time of signing. His contract is no longer responsible for that section of the Saints salary. His dispute is also reportedly more about security than just annual pay. He wants to retire in New Orleans and redoing his deal would set the stage for that.
Christian McCaffrey’s new contract accounts for 7.4% of the NFL salary cap. The next closest player is Jonathan Taylor. There becomes an even steeper drop off to Saquon Barkley and other running backs around the league. This goes to show that running backs are not valued like they used to and their contracts reflect that. Teams are hesitant to pay them even 4% of their total salary cap commitments, much less 7.5% like Kamara got back in 2020.
In this era, teams avoid paying running backs and barely any running backs get two big contracts. McCaffrey is an exception. When, or if, Kamara signs his new deal with the Saints, he’ll likely stay on this top-10 list. He’ll just fall from the top of the list.
