So Tiny Salary; Saquon Barkley Similar to Many Other Laborers’ Pay Diminished
So Tiny Salary; Saquon Barkley Similar to Many Other Laborers’ Pay Diminished.
You are worth what someone will pay you, according to the proverb that professional athletes clung to when people bemoaned their skyrocketing incomes.
That value is lower now for Barkley and the current crop of running backs.
Star running backs like Terrell Davis and Emmitt Smith used to command some of the highest wages in the league.
no longer. This is a quarterback league, so finding a quarterback, keeping a quarterback safe, or stopping a quarterback is the main goal.
Even a terrific running back like Barkley has a limited market value, particularly when they exit their rookie contracts.
The highest-paid position in the NFL, according to Spotrac, is left tackle, which involves protecting the quarterback’s blindside.
They make $8.95 million on average per season. Right tackles come next and cost $5.13 million.
QBs make $5.0 million, a figure that is impacted by underpaid backups making rookie wages. QBs hold the top five positions in terms of total monetary payment for the 2023 season, including Lamar Jackson of Baltimore, who will earn $80 million.
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Following that, the average pay is as follows: free safety ($4.98M), strong safety ($4.44M), inside linebacker ($3.84M), outside linebacker ($3.63M), edge rusher ($3.18M), defensive tackle ($2.95M), guard ($2.49M), center ($2.41M), wide receiver ($2.25M), place kicker ($2.13M), cornerback ($2.0M), tight end ($1.99M), and finally, and lastly, running back ($1.76M).
The only jobs with typical pay below this level? Long snapper costs $1.07 million, while punter costs $1.54 million.
That is the unforgiving truth of a glamorous position.
Barkley and other running backs have bemoaned their dwindling worth; recently, they even held a conference call for running backs.
There were suggestions that this tendency will be reversed through a position-only strike or another strategy.
This makes sense. Barkley has made a significant contribution to the Giants.
Even the top running backs are no longer worth much more than the average running back, according to advanced statistics that support status quo thinking. With Patrick Mahomes or Joe Burrow, that is undoubtedly not the case.
In this way, industries develop. That is how professions evolve. Work is shipped. Technology advances. If artificial intelligence could be used to build a running back, the NFL would.
It’s called capitalism. Here we have the free market. It could be annoying. Barkley would likely be making $30 million now if he had been born 20 years earlier.
Consider Barry Sanders, who in 1997 signed a five-year contract with Detroit for an average of $5.7 million per year, at the age of 29 and with 2,384 carries under his belt.
Sanders became the highest-paid player because his average salary was barely over Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman’s $5.67 per year.
Barkley, on the other hand, has just 954 carries in his career and is only 26. Durability issues, however, are a problem.
Barkley followed the norm for workers since he had no other options and no negotiating strength. He chose the greatest offer he could get.
There is no need for a Saquon fundraising. He will be just fine.
However, an NFL star and the average fan would have a little more in common for the first time since your postman might have also been a moonlighting linebacker trying to pay the offseason mortgage.
