Once a cornerstone of NFL offenses — not to mention fantasy leagues — running backs are facing perhaps their greatest struggle for a fair piece of the league’s expanding economic pie.

The New York Giants’ Saquon Barkley isn’t under contract after failing to reach a long-term deal, and he received the 2023 running back franchise tag for $10.091 million — as did the Dallas Cowboys’ Tony Pollard and Las Vegas Raiders’ Josh Jacobs, who is now holding out on training camp. 

No free-agent running back was able to hit $7 million in annual salary this past offseason, and the number of backs earning at least $12 million has been halved from eight in 2022 to four now.

The depressed market prompted a Zoom meeting Saturday among top players at the position to discuss the issue, attended by Barkley, Jacobs, Cleveland’s Nick Chubb, and several others.

“We’re the only position where our production hurts us the most,” Chubb said to ESPN. “If we run for 2,000 yards, the next year they’re going to say, ‘You’re probably worn down.’ It’s tough.”

The NFL’s salary cap rose 7.9% this year to $224.8 million and is set for bigger increases in future years. But running backs haven’t been able to fully benefit as the league continues its conspicuous shift to a pass-first mentality.

“This all has to do with injuries. This is a high-impact, collision position,” former Atlanta Falcons scout and former NFL offensive lineman Russ Bolinger told Front Office Sports. “Running backs are more susceptible to injuries than ever, and the cap guys have figured out this is a high-risk position.”

The future of Kansas City’s two 50-plus-year-old stadiums are connected, and the Chiefs are waiting for the Royals’ next move — even as they hatch their own plans to offer the best premium fan experience.

Chiefs owner Clark Hunt reiterated his stance during training camp that renovating Arrowhead Stadium — which he said could extend the facility’s life by 25 years — is preferred to building a new stadium nearby or another location altogether.

Arrowhead is part of the Truman Sports Complex that also houses the Royals’ iconic Kauffman Stadium — which the team is hoping to leave by 2028. The Chiefs want to be able to support the Royals’ decision on a new ballpark site when it comes this summer, Hunt said.

“If and when they go,” Chiefs president Mark Donovan added, “then that creates opportunity for us, and what does that mean, right? And it gets really complicated — you got a sports complex now that has one tenant. How do you deal with that?”

No Place Like Dome?

Any stadium talk of course has fans wondering if the Chiefs could opt for an indoor stadium.

“Certainly a benefit of a dome stadium is that you are weather-protected, which does give you the ability to host more events,” Hunt said before pointing out the stadium’s long list of non-football events this year.

“Not having a roof doesn’t preclude having many of those events,” he added. “But certainly if you have a roof, you possibly could do more during the winter.”

When it comes to acquiring more live sports rights, Apple’s ambitions appear limitless.

Apple senior vice president of services Eddy Cue pushed back on the idea of buying a package of Premier League rights that would be limited to a specific country or region. 

“We’re a global company,” Cue explained in an interview with the Daily Mail. “We have customers in every country in the world … and it’s not exciting for me to have something that you can have but you can’t have.”

Apple is in its first season of a 10-year, $2.5 billion deal for MLS rights worldwide. 

Cue’s comments corroborate Apple’s thought process as it negotiated for rights to NFL Sunday Ticket last year. That package would’ve been exclusive to U.S. viewers, but in order to attract more customers, Apple was thought to have wanted to offer the service for a lower price — or even free alongside an Apple TV+ subscription.

The NFL wanted NFL Sunday Ticket to remain a premium product and sold it for an annual $2 billion to Google, which is charging up to $489 for the product on Youtube TV.

“I can’t justify throwing what I think are the best engineers in the world on a small subset product,” Cue added. 

What does that mean for other properties interested in partnering with Apple, like the NBA or Pac-12?

“This isn’t ‘Hey, I’ve got an opening from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. tonight, and I’m going to put this game on,’” Cue said. “That’s not the way we’re doing it. We’re all-in on this from an investment point of view, so it doesn’t work unless it’s something significant.”

More NFL teams are looking to cash in on alternate and throwback uniforms as the league continues to relax its policy on teams using multiple helmets for a second straight season.

The Tennessee Titans and New York Jets are the latest squads to unveil alternate uniforms to be worn during select games in the 2023 season. While the Jets won’t abandon their classic green helmets for their “Legacy White” throwbacks, the Titans will trade their navy blue helmet shells for a white base as part of a throwback fit honoring their past as the Houston Oilers.

On Monday, the Titans’ website was dominated by the reveal and its push to sell powder blue jerseys, shirts, and hats on the “Oilers Pro Shop.” Likewise, the Jets were promoting their throwback gear online and noted that tickets remained available to the two games featuring the uniforms.

Blast From The Past

Also returning this year are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ creamsicle uniforms with white helmets that couldn’t previously be worn with the Bucs’ standard pewter helmets. The Philadelphia Eagles have been hinting at bringing back their Kelly Green uniforms this season. The Atlanta Falcons will wear a red helmet as part of their throwback uniforms.

Last season, the New England Patriots brought back their “Pat Patriot” uniforms with white helmets, while the Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, and Chicago Bears wore different-colored helmets.