It wasn't a good day for NFL running backs.
Pro Bowlers Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs and Tony Pollard all failed to reach long-term extension agreements with their respective teams before Monday's 4 p.m. ET deadline.
That means the lead running backs for the New York Giants, Las Vegas Raiders and Dallas Cowboys will play on the one-year franchise tag in the 2023 season, though Pollard is the only one who has officially signed his $10.1 million franchise tender thus far. Jacobs and Barkley are not expected to report to the start of training camp, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported.
Barkley, Jacobs and Pollard are the latest victims of a harsh running back market. As Schefter noted, the last player at the position to ink a long-term deal with an average annual salary of $10 million or more was Nick Chubb nearly two years ago.
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After the deadline passed, Barkley tweeted "It is what it is" while Jacobs pushed back on a claim that he was seeking to reset the market. Here's a look at how the rest of NFL Twitter, including star backs Christian McCaffrey, Derrick Henry, Austin Ekeler and Jonathan Taylor, reacted:
