Jarrett Bell has been covering the NFL for USA TODAY since 1993 and is a recipient of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Bill Nunn Memorial Award for career achievement. He's been a member of Hall of Fame selection committee since 1997 and has voted on AP awards and Super Bowl MVP panels for more than 25 years. Each Monday during the 2026 season, he'll take you around the league as only he can to uncover what mattered most and what it means.
Jahmyr Gibbs has yet to christen his new record contract by ripping off his first explosive run in live action or by burning a defense with a scintillating catch in the open field.
Just wait. Barring some disaster, it’s coming.
And when it does, the big-play Detroit Lions star may have already outplayed his contract.
Gibbs, 24, became the highest-paid running back in NFL history this month in striking a 3-year, $67.5 million extension that averages $22.5 million per year.
It was the third deal of the summer for a running back averaging at least $22 million, edging past Bijan Robinson’s 3-year, $66.75 million pact with the Falcons and the 2-year, $44 million extension for the Colts’ Jonathan Taylor. The trio joins Saquon Barkley in the $20-mil-plus running back club.
So, yes, Gibbs can take a bow to lead the pack.
But by another measure, the fourth-year pro is still rather underpaid. According to rankings posted on Spotrac.com, there are 24 wide receivers averaging more on their contracts than Gibbs, which doesn’t seem right. Gibbs was second in the NFL with 18 TDs and fifth with 1,839 yards from scrimmage.
And it was no anomaly. Taylor led the league with 20 TDs and was third in scrimmage yards (1,963). Robinson topped the NFL with 2,298 yards, while San Francisco’s Christian McCaffrey ($19 million per year) was second with 2,126 yards and third with 17 TDs.
Yet for all of their heavy-duty workload – and with their expansive roles in the passing game as multiple-dimensional threats – running backs still get the short of it.
This is hardly a new pattern. For decades as the NFL evolved into a passing league, running backs have been devalued. There’s the argument about diminishing returns. They don’t last as long. Yet as the position has evolved with the game, their value hasn’t evolved proportionally.
“I don’t think it should be like a positional thing,” Gibbs told USA TODAY Sports following a recent camp practice at the Lions headquarters in Allen Park, Mich. “I think it should be like worth. What’s your value to that team? That’s how I think it should go.
“It doesn't really make any sense. I get it because the running back lifespan in the NFL is what, three or four years? But you have elites still getting paid less than…compared to the rest of the positions it was low, even though we do a lot for a team.”
On some teams, the gap is glaring. While Robinson was briefly the highest-paid running back before Gibbs, his new deal is nowhere close to the contract Falcons receiver Drake London received that averages $35.26 million. In Baltimore, Zay Flowers landed a $35 million-per-year pact that more than doubles the $15 million average for Derrick Henry.
“The market analysis part, that’s a big driving force in all these negotiations,” Lions GM Brad Holmes told USA TODAY Sports. “With these new contracts with Jahmyr, Bijan and Jonathan Taylor, they’re starting to creep up there. They’re not there yet.”
In another sense, though, running back value has decreased at an alarming rate – despite the contracts at the top of the market.
Joel Corry, a former agent and contract expert, points to the NFL’s salary cap for proof. The cap, set at a record $301.2 million for 2026, was at $120.735 million after the lockout ended in 2011.
“The salary cap has gone up 150% since then,” Corry told USA TODAY Sports. “The top of the running back market has gone up 58% since then. Running back salaries have not kept up with the growth of the cap.”
Corry, who contributes to CBS Sports’ digital channel and website, pointed out that Vikings star Adrian Peterson was the highest-paid running back in 2011 with an average salary of $14.2 million, while Larry Fitzgerald topped receivers at slightly more than $16 million per year. So 15 years ago the top running back earned 90% of what the top receiver was paid. Now, with Seattle’s Jaxson Smith-Njigba averaging $42.15 million on his new deal, the highest-paid running back, Gibbs, is a little more than 50% of the top receiver pay.
How can the elite backs close that gap? It’s a tough sell, especially with the top backs signed to long-term extension and attrition a factor.
Maybe the best argument for the best players, though, can be made by reclassifying them as “offensive weapons” rather than merely running backs.
Then again, that negotiating stance certainly isn’t a novel idea.
“That’s an argument that falls on deaf ears,” Corry said. “I’m sure multiple agents have tried to make that argument with dual-threat running backs. Good luck with that one.”
Also, as the NFL rolls down the stretch run of preseason:
What stood out: Cleveland QB edition
Since kicking off the offseason program on April 14, new Browns coach Todd Monken has had exactly 38 practices – that’s 6 minicamp practices, 3 rookie minicamp practices, 10 OTA sessions, 18 training camp practices and 1 joint practice – and two preseason games to lay eyes on Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson and collect intel for the big decision on his starting quarterback that could come down (finally) as early as Monday.
Monken has also had many hours of meetings with his QBs and staff, plus even more hours of videotape study. You’d think he’s got enough to make the call.
And if he needed another factor, the Huntington Bank Field crowd gave their opinion by showering Watson with a chorus of boos during the Saturday tilt against the Bills.
“I know you’ve asked him, ‘Hey, how’s it feel to get booed?’ It’s a pretty easy question. It sucks,” Monken said during his postgame media session. “I don’t want to get booed. It comes with the territory. You don’t want to get booed? Let’s play good football.”
No, that didn’t happen as Watson was disastrous during a second-half run low-lighted by two picks. And given how Sanders was much smoother and productive during the first half it would be a shock if Watson is named the starter.
Then his post-game newser put an exclamation point on that, as Watson vented about the Browns fan base. No doubt, it was cruel that home fans cheered when Watson suffered a torn Achilles tendon in 2024. But Watson hurt his rep even more, and after a poor performance, by clapping back at the fans.
So, on the awareness meter, Sanders scored even more points with his graceful response to a question about the booing of his teammate and competitor.
“In general, I don’t appreciate that at all,” Sanders said during his post-game media session. “Regardless of competition, we’re all human beings. I think we all need to understand that. In this room, too, we’re all humans.
“It’s a respect thing,” he added. “It’s a respect thing that I feel should be there because we’re all out there trying to do our best and serve the franchise the best way possible.”
Spoken like, well, an evolving face of the franchise.
What moved me
Ultimately, the legacy of O.J. Brigance went so far beyond football. Sure, as the leader of the Ravens special teams units, he fittingly made the first tackle of Super Bowl 35 on the opening kickoff. He had the distinction, too, of being the only player to win a Super Bowl and a Grey Cup while representing the same city, Baltimore.
Yet his defining legacy comes in more human terms, wrapped in the determined spirit Brigance demonstrated for so many years as he battled ALS – and remained active with the Ravens despite limited physical abilities.
The team announced the death of Brigance, 56, last Monday.
After being diagnosed with ALS in 2007, Brigance, who worked as the player development director following his playing days, kept an office at the team’s headquarters and continued connecting with those relationships. He regularly attended practices, too.
Never mind that Brigance used a motorized wheelchair and eye-tech technology to communicate after losing his ability to speak. ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, attacks the nervous system as has no known cure.
“It was as if he didn’t have the disease,” Ozzie Newsome, the former GM and current executive vice president, told USA TODAY Sports. “He was in a wheelchair, but everything he had done prior to the disease, he still continued to do it.”
Newsome said that during his GM tenure, Brigance provided a crucial benefit built on relationships developed with players he consulted on myriad off-the-field matters. “He was unbelievable with that, the trust he gained with those guys, while never compromising his responsibility to the Ravens,” reflected Newsome, who built two separate Super Bowl championship teams. “He was an unbelievable help for me in that sense, because of the way players reacted to him. When he contracted ALS, it didn’t stop him, which is amazing, the impact he continued to have with players.”
Before moving from the DMV area a few years ago, I covered dozens of Ravens home games, typically sitting a few feet away from Brigance as his wheelchair was positioned at the end of the front row of the press box. Although he suffered with his condition, he would show something else with bright eyes and a wide smile when approached with a greeting. I can imagine how much more he impacted those at the Ravens headquarters – players and staffers alike – who encountered him on a regular basis.
“When you have a teammate putting in maximum effort every day, it encourages everybody else," Newsome said. “‘If he can do it, why can’t I be better at what I’m doing?’ And inspiration to all of us.”
What stood out: Denver QB edition
Check the box for Broncos quarterback Bo Nix, who took 14 snaps over two series against the Packers on Friday night in his first live action since suffering a fractured right ankle in an AFC divisional playoff win in January. He was fluid, efficient and accurate.
“It was like riding a bike. It doesn’t really change,” Nix, who dropped a rainbow to finish off R.J. Harvey’s wheel route for 21-yard TD pass and posted a 129.9 passer rating with his limited work, said during his post-game press conference.
No, Nix – whose 83 rushes last season tied for fifth-most among quarterbacks – didn’t run from scrimmage. But there was no question about his mobility. And he previewed an added dimension for Denver’s offense, timing up for a 35-yard hook-up with Jaylen Waddle, the biggest offseason acquisition.
Nix said the biggest challenge was mental, as in re-aligning his vision under game conditions. With Broncos coach Sean Payton looking to play starters into the third quarter against Minnesota on Friday night – albeit not committing how he’ll use his QB – it appears Nix could still get a round of more extensive work before the Monday night opener at Kansas City.
“I’d like to play as much as I can,” he said of another possible preseason tuneup, “but I have no control over that.”
Regardless, Nix, who also had a clean-up procedure after his initial surgery, sounds ready for Week 1. “I’ve played a lot of football,” he said. “I think I could walk in any game and be fine.”
What stood out: Pittsburgh QB edition
If you thought Steelers coach Mike McCarthy might be tempted to cast off seventh-year pro Mason Rudolph and roll with a pair of young developmental quarterbacks to back up 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers, scratch that idea. Pittsburgh was shut out by the Jets on Friday night as second-year pro Will Howard and third-round rookie Drew Allar split the workload – and illustrated that it’s not-so-fast in making Rudolph expendable.
Howard started and played the entire first half, with two picks; Allar didn’t commit a turnover in his second half of work but also completed fewer than half his passes (11 of 23) and was sacked three times.
McCarthy knows. Developing QBs takes time. And now it’s time for a good spin.
“We got great teaching film,” McCarthy said during his post-game news conference, eyeing the final camp practices on Monday and Tuesday before the preseason finale at Buffalo on Thursday.
“I wish we’d have been more productive,” he added. “We’ll definitely have an opportunity to grow.”
Best thing I saw on social media
Hated that ESPN recently dropped Damien Woody from its lineup of NFL analysts.
Loved that Woody, who won two Super Bowls with the Patriots during a 12-year career in the NFL trenches, says he will still unload some things on his mind when so moved.
The former O-lineman dropped a gem of a video commentary with a post on X, responding to the brawl between the Cowboys and Saints – which resulted in the NFL fining the teams a combined $1 million – that was one of a series of fights breaking out across the league during joint and even non-joint camp practices.
Brawls in training camp 🤦🏾♂️ cmon fellas! pic.twitter.com/rOe4CmYeUc
— Damien Woody (@damienwoody) August 19, 2026
Said Woody: “I’ve always said, man, if you’ve got the energy to brawl in practice, then practice is not hard enough. It’s absolutely ridiculous to be grabbing people’s helmets, throwing them off, twisting and slamming people, ‘Suplex-ing’ people. Like how in the world do you have that much energy to go out and do that stuff? It’s stupid.
“The one thing I’ve always said about football: Football is one of the few places where I get to assault another individual for three hours. That’s on game day. No need to do that in training camp. Stop the nonsense.”
Well-said, D-Woody. And please, keep speaking your mind.
Clip-N-Save: Maxx Crosby trade talk won't stop
Maxx Crosby is not on the market anymore. But never say never.
I mean, let somebody dangle a pair of first-round picks again and see what happens.
After Crosby’s offseason adventure of being traded from the Raiders to the Ravens for two first-round picks – only to have the deal nixed when Baltimore didn’t pass the premier edge rusher on a physical – it seemed fitting as camp opened that buzz intensified about the Dallas Cowboys dealing for him.
Noise about that scenario quickly died down, and since then the Cowboys signed free agent Von Miller for pass-rush needs. But there are 30 other teams out there. And listening carefully to Raiders GM John Spytek during the first week in camp makes me wonder.
When Spytek was asked whether Crosby is definitely a Raider this year, he replied, “That’s the plan.”
Yet Spytek also acknowledged that he’s heard from teams inquiring about Crosby, who has recovered from offseason surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee.
“I always get calls,” Spytek said. “There’s always calls. You guys know that.”
We also suspect that if he remains healthy, Crosby’s name will be hot – especially on debate shows – as circumstances dictate. The trade deadline is Nov. 10.
“People do what they do,” Spytek said. “I’m just trying to make the Raiders as good as possible. Right now, Maxx is here and I have every intention that Maxx will be here.”
Right now.
Closing Bell
A final word from Hall of Fame cornerback Ty Law, a three-time Super Bowl winner, on why he worked through a tight travel schedule to make it Canton and show up for former Patriots teammate Adam Vinatieri’s induction:
“I had to be here,” Law said. “If he doesn’t make those clutch kicks, the resumes for a whole lot of us look a lot different.”
Follow me on X: @JarrettBell. See you next week.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Deshaun's disaster, low RB value and 'stupid' NFL practice fights: Monday Morning JB
