🏈 Running Pains
The NFL doesn't value running backs today.
Happy Friday. It's Eric.
💥 Clobberin' signs: July 21-24 is Comic-Con. Time for truth, justice, and superhero-villain battles.
🎶 Sounds like: "Flash" by Queen.
This newsletter is 1,149 words — a 5-minute read.
💪 QUICK HITS
🦕 Running backs might become extinct in the NFL.
❤️ The USWNT is playing for more than the World Cup.
🎾 Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz is the future.
👎 The No Respect Position
Pro football used to have franchise running backs. Now running backs in the NFL get no respect. Especially when it comes to getting big contracts.
💰 Empty bag: It's no secret NFL running backs have been devalued. Team executives and coaches have gotten comfortable with a committee approach and believe they can find star backs for less than market value.
🎯 A kick in the head: The 2023 NFL salary cap is a record-high $224.8 million, but the pay disparity numbers don't lie. Look at the franchise tag numbers by position. Only kickers and punters are compensated less than running backs.
Quarterback: $32.42 million
Running back: $10.09 million
Tight end: $11.35 million
Wide receiver: $19.74 million
Offensive line: $18.24 million
Defensive tackle: $18.94 million
Defensive end: $19.73 million
Linebacker: $20.93 million
Cornerback: $18.14 million
Safety: $14.46 million
Kicker/punter: $5.39 million
🥶 No deal for you: Even the best running back in the league gets no love. After leading the NFL in rushing and being a first-team All-Pro last season, Josh Jacobs reportedly wanted a new long-term deal worth $12.2 million a year with the Las Vegas Raiders. But the two sides didn't get close, so Jacobs will play on the franchise tag. Or the Raiders could rescind Jacobs' franchise tag and make him a free agent.
Las Vegas Raiders Regular-Season Wins 2023-24
Over 6.5 Wins -118
Under 6.5 Wins -104
😡 Giant problem: New York Giants running Saquon Barkley is another disgruntled running back. After finishing fourth in the NFL with a career-high 1,312 rushing yards last season — and running for 10 touchdowns and tying for the team lead with 57 receptions — the No. 2 overall draft pick in the 2018 NFL draft is thinking about sitting out the season to show his worth because of a stalemate with the Giants over a long-term deal. "I might have to take it to this level," Barkley said on "The Money Matters" podcast. "Am I prepared to take it to this level? I don't know."
New York Giants Regular-Season Wins 2023-24
Over 7.5 Wins -106
Under 7.5 Wins -114
🍿 Bad mojo: Alienating star running backs and treating them like "discardable widgets" doesn't just hurt teams. It hurts the league. If the NFL doesn't fix this broken market, young kids might not want to play running back anymore. That means no more running backs.
🏃🏿♂️Run this way: For now, the show goes on.
Most Regular-Season Total Rushing Yards 2023-24
Nick Chubb +600
Jonathan Taylor +700
Derrick Henry +750
Bijan Robinson +1200
Josh Jacobs +1400
Saquon Barkley +1600
Tony Pollard +1800
All odds are subject to change.
RELATED FOOTBALL STORIES ON STADIUM TALK
🏀 🏌️Quote du Jour: Sharpshooters
"It feels like every good shooter that I know enjoys golf as well."
—Kyle Korver on the link between high-level golf and long-range shooting in basketball. As Steph Curry won the American Century Championship, ESPN investigated why the best shooters in NBA history are also the best golfers.
⚽ Bigger Than the Game
There are a lot of great stories at the Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. One of the most inspiring is U.S. women’s national soccer team defender Naomi Girma. She was born in Northern California as a first-generation American after her father fled the civil war in Ethiopia, then started his own youth soccer club in San Jose, according to Front Office Sports.
Naomi fell in love with the sport and was recruited to play at Stanford. She won a national championship, recovered from a torn ACL, went pro, was drafted first overall by the San Diego Wave FC in the National Women's Soccer League, got a degree in symbolic systems, and a master's in management science and engineering while playing pro soccer. Now, she is making her World Cup debut, the first person of Ethiopian descent to play for the United States women's national team.
She dedicated this World Cup to Katie Meyer, her best friend and Stanford teammate, who committed suicide in 2022. With the help of Naomi's teammates on the USWNT, they have partnered with Common Goal to launch a mental health initiative during the World Cup that they hope will save lives. Naomi wrote about the project in a beautiful tribute to Meyer in The Player's Tribune titled "This Is for Katie."
United States +220
Spain +500
England +550
Germany +700
Australia +850
France +1600
Sweden +2100
🎧 Listen Up
⛳️ Open for business: The British Open has our full attention. Betting Predators podcast host SleepyJ and Uncle Dave Essler give their picks.
📈 Number of the Day: .394
That's Tony Gwynn's batting average for the 1994 season, the highest single-season batting average since Ted Williams topped .400 in 1941. It’s the last time a player hit .400 over a full season. Miami Marlins second baseman Luis Arraez is chasing .400 this season, hitting .383 at the All-Star break and .376 (134-for-356) after 92 games.
🧠 Sports Betting Tip
The NFL preseason is a great opportunity to make money.
Coaches lie, constantly. In the NFL's regular season, you should never believe what comes out of their mouths. The preseason, however, is a different story. Coaches have no reason to lie about a meaningless game. They usually will tell you how long the quarterbacks are playing, how much time the second unit will see, or if they plan on sitting the starters entirely. Find the team's beat reporters on Twitter and set your notifications "on" for their tweets so you can see live, legitimate reports. If you can get that information before sportsbooks, you could be in line for a profitable payday. —Steve Reider, NFL, Betting Predators
🏆 Carlos the Great
Carlos Alcaraz is just getting started. After the 20-year-old Spaniard won his first Wimbledon (second Grand Slam) by stunning Novak Djokovic in five sets, Alcaraz is the favorite (+130) to win the U.S. Open and defend his title. While Djokovic isn't finished, Nike has proclaimed a changing of the guard. But Spanish golf star Jon Rahm may have summed up Alacaraz best: "I don’t know what it is, the guy has it."
👉 Spread the word: Forward this newsletter to friends. They’ll be happy.
This newsletter was written by Eric Ortiz, the head of content and strategy for Big Edition, a digital media company with five brands, including Stadium Talk. If you want to advertise your brand in this newsletter, contact Eric at eric.ortiz@bigedition.com. Have any other questions or issues? Email us at bettingpredators@gmail.com.