signed,

all AFC North teams not called the Baltimore Ravens……..

Saints – Bush and Thomas
Steelers – Mendenhal, Parker, Bettis
Giants – Bradshaw and Jacobs
Packers – Starks
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The only Super Bowl team that has featured a 1200 yard RB since SB XL has been Mendenhall in 2010. Not one other team has even featured a 1000 yard RB that season.

Its the Goodell NFL. RBs are phased out because it’s become easier and easier to pass with each passing (no pun intended) season. 2009 featured 10 4000 yard passers. It’s very skewed.

Ravens without Rice will be in a lot of trouble.

The only way the Bears make the playoffs last year was for them to win their final 5 games and for the Lions to lose 3 out of 5.

The Lions didn’t lose 3 out of 5. They still would have came up short even if they won out.
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Ajknox88 – The Bears finished 2 games behind the Lions & Falcons. I’m pretty sure without injuries and having to (horror flashbacks) use Caleb Hanie they beat the Raiders, Chiefs and Broncos. All 3 were losses by a touchdown or less. That would have put them 11-5. Maybe the GB and Seattle games would have been different for a better record but 11-5 still beats 10-6. Even if they win 2 of 3 of those games they are 10-6. They beat Atlanta early in the season so wouldn’t that have been the tie-breaker?

It’s OK to be a Lions fan but roll down the window once in awhile so the smoke doesn’t affect your judgement.

Let’s say I get paid $7 million. Minus 18% that I would put away for taxes, that still leaves me $5.74million. If I put that in the bank in a standard checking account gaining 1% interest, I would earn $574000.00 annually. That is $544000.00 more than I currently earn a year. I think I could find a way to live on that.
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Sorry, but 1% of $5,740,000 is $57,400.

10% would = $574,000.

Agents are capped at 3%, so your whole post is based on incorrect figures.

But using your other figures, $7.7 million x 47% = $3,619,000

If you want to live on that for 20 years (without any interest) that comes out to $180,950 a year.

How many people wouldn’t be happy to live on that TAX FREE (remember, you already accounted for taxes upfront) for 20 years?

And like you said, that’s just 1 year. If any of these guys get a multi year deal in that range per year, then yes, they are set for life.

Boo hoo…cry me a river.

“Chris Johnson single-handedly ruined it for these guys when he suckered the Titans into a big contract and then immediately went from first to worst.”

It was the Deangelo Williams and Frank Gore contracts that blew up the pricing levels for RBs.

It’s a catch-22. You can’t fault a RB for trying to get every dollar he can because of his potential for a shortened career, but you can’t fault an NFL team for not wanting to overpay for a shortened career.

Forte was given what was a great deal pre-Williams and pre-Gore, but he passed on it. And then he injured himself after the 10-week point after which he would have had to come back had he held out.

Unfortunate, but that’s the risk.

You’re wrong, and on so many levels. They should have censored youre post, it is highly inaccurate. In ’07, it was the emergence of Ahmad Bradshaw that led the Giants to the post-season, ecspecially that long run against my Bills. Jacobs hammered the Packers in the NFCCG. Again, James Starks was the reason GB won in Philly 2 years ago. You don’t have to have a HOF worthy running back to have a running game. Dorsey Levens anyone? You also mention Mendenhal as only having one shot at a title, but if I recall, he played against the Packers in ’11, he was the one with the costly fumble. Ray Lewis knocked him out his Rookie season, 2008. Nobody will remember Corey Dillon. Heck, Ricky Watters doesn’t even get love. The Saints actually don’t run less than any team in the leauge, they ranked 6th this season in team rushing, and 6th in the year they won the Superbowl, so again, you’re wrong. The Giants were 4th the year they won. So please, type another novel to try and prove I’m wrong.

Let’s say I get paid $7 million. Minus 18% that I would put away for taxes, that still leaves me $5.74million. If I put that in the bank in a standard checking account gaining 1% interest, I would earn $574000.00 annually. That is $544000.00 more than I currently earn a year. I think I could find a way to live on that.
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You have to love the simplicity of thought, but Mr. Benlw2 needs some help.

First, the tax bracket would not be 18%. The combination of state and federal taxes at that income level is 50% +. Don’t forget to pay the agent.Another 10% there. So you net 40% of $7.7. That equals $3.08. 1% of that is $30,800. Dude, that’s not setting the world on fire. Your number above was 10% of $5.74, not 1%.

Your most eggrigous error was to say that you would “put away 18% for taxes.” You make it sound like that is put aside for a rainy day. I am just picky but that wording sounds very naive.

If you consider the short career these guys have, unless they are very good investors, they are not set for life unless they get good paying jobs after football. Hope they got their degrees too.

Get over it, sign the tender, and play.

Mojo already got a second deal, that he agreed to, so he certainly gets no sympathy from me.

Did they forget they are fungible?
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Tailback fungibility is greatly overestimated nowadays. While it’s true that the era of a single back carrying the load for his team is almost certainly over, that doesn’t mean their aren’t running backs who dwarf (ironically in Jones-Drew’s case) the competition, and whose contributions to the team could not be easily replaced. Ryan Grant is fungible; James Starks is fungible; Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs are fungible; even Marshawn Lynch could be considered fungible; but the three guys in this article, while they may not deserve quite the salary they’re looking for (especially given the nature of the running game in today’s NFL), are anything but easily replaced.
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fenom202 says:
May 30, 2012 8:53 AM
Sad to see that running backs are looked at as after thoughts. But every team that won the super bowl in the passing era had a running game.

Saints – Bush and Thomas
Steelers – Mendenhal, Parker, Bettis
Giants – Bradshaw and Jacobs
Packers – Starks
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Okay, you proved the point that every Championship team in recent years had a running back, but a running game? Not so much.

First off, the Packers and the Saints run less than any other teams in the league. Even when Bush, Thomas, Starks, or Ryan Grant somehow ended up with the ball in their hands, it was usually a from a checkdown or screen pass rather than a handoff.

More importantly, your list of names actually proves the point you were arguing against. Forgetting Bettis for a second, and Bush’s spectacular college career and a few dynamic plays in the NFL, these are all very middle-of-the-pack halfbacks. A group shot of the guys on your list would go well next to the word mediocre in the dictionary. If, like I mentioned above, sj39 can call Rice, Drew, and Forte fungible, what would you call the backs listed here?

With the exception of Bettis, no one will remember any of these guys’ names ten years from now, unless Jacobs throws his helmet again and hits a celebrity.

Also, for the record, Mendenhall did not play in his only championship with the Steelers, and rushed for a grand total of 58 yards that season. Though he had potential to be franchise style back, his career may be already be over, almost before it began. And if, ten years from now, people even remember Mendenhall’s name, it will not be as a great running back, but as “that guy who could have been good, but was just kind of a (I worked too hard on this to have it deleted by the censors so fill in your own word here)”

If Gene wanted to pay him then why hasn’t he? I believe his “paid” him once, as you point out and isn’t going over that figure. Feels like his managment style. We’re talking about a tip, here, for MJD in all honesty. It wouldn’t take major money to get him back to the top-3 and has all the justification to do it because MJD won a Rushing Title. I just don’t get it. It’s the only negative right now in an optomistic and forward looking Jacksonville. I say pay the guy that’s the face of the franchise and was the best RB in football last year and make this go away. No downside. Let’s get him in the building. He gives us 100%.

It doesn’t make sense from a business perspective to give a guy more money when you have him under contract for 2 more years and he is approaching thirty. Let him play it out and go from there.

To people that say the Bears would have made the playoffs last year if injuries were not a problem, you’re wrong.
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First off, when Cutler went out here were 6 games remaining. 5 of those were W’s. The ONLY game the Bears got blow out without Cutler was the Packer game.

The Bears would’ve wound up with a 12-4 record best case, 11-5 record at worst case. Both of those are better than 10-6, which is what the Lions and Falcons went in on.

The only way the Bears make the playoffs last year was for them to win their final 5 games and for the Lions to lose 3 out of 5.

The Lions didn’t lose 3 out of 5. They still would have came up short even if they won out.
==================================
In week 11 Bears and Lions were 7-3 and had split the division series.
Your math skills?
Priceless.

The only way the Bears make the playoffs last year was for them to win their final 5 games and for the Lions to lose 3 out of 5.

The Lions didn’t lose 3 out of 5. They still would have came up short even if they won out.

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couldn’t be more wrong. When Cutler broke his thumb, the Bears were 7-3 and the Lions were 7-3. The teams had split the season series and at that point, the Bears were ahead of the Lions in the playoff hunt. The Bears had just won 5 straight in a very convincing fashion. The Lions ultimately limped into the playoffs, with a healthy team no less. At that point in the season, the common opponents were TB, ATL, and CAR (outside of the division). Both teams disposed of TB and CAR, but the Lions, if you remember, lost to ATL. So, in closing, you’re wrong. The Bears only needed to go 4-2 down the stretch to beat out the Lions. The injuries were strong side of the reason why the Bears missed out on the playoffs last year, but not the only reason.

Go Bears.

Let’s say I get paid $7 million. Minus 18% that I would put away for taxes, that still leaves me $5.74million. If I put that in the bank in a standard checking account gaining 1% interest, I would earn $574000.00 annually. That is $544000.00 more than I currently earn a year. I think I could find a way to live on that.

Saints – Bush and Thomas
Steelers – Mendenhal, Parker, Bettis
Giants – Bradshaw and Jacobs
Packers – Starks

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Is this real life? James Starks just might be stretch… just maybe.

The great teams all had a great back. What were the Rams without Marshall Faulk, Dallas without Emmitt, 49ers without Craig, Pittsburg without Harris and Bettis? Elway only won a super bowl when he got a great back.

They can try to devalue the position all they want, but you can clearly see a special back is a need!

The real question in these cases is, can the teams win while these guys are in thier prime? How long till Jax is competitive? Ravens are damn close to winning it all. Bears still have some question marks.

Great catch – Chris Johnson experiment.

Though, I would think that the Titans and their fans felt pretty bloodied after CJ’s performance last year. He didn’t even buy them dinner or give them a kiss.

Saints – Bush and Thomas
Steelers – Mendenhal, Parker, Bettis
Giants – Bradshaw and Jacobs
Packers – Starks

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Are you making the point that every team that won a superbowl had running backs on their roster? Then I will say that you are correct sir but you have to look over your list…

Bush-Bum
Thomas- 2nd tier
Mendenhal- Bum
Parker- One year wonder
Bettis _ Great
Starks- Bum
Bradshaw and Jacobs- Combined make one solid running back

How many rings between CJ, AP, Rice, MJD, Forte, Michael Turner, Rickey Williams, Gore, Stephen Jackson?

As historically tight-fisted as the Bears franchise has been, it’s hard to see Forte getting treated better anywhere else – his market price might actually be lower than the franchise tender amount.

Gene Smith made him one of the highest paid backs in the league three years ago, so that wouldn’t make sense.