Jim Irsay Says Running Back Comment Not ‘Directed’ At Jonathan Taylor

Jim Irsay Says Running Back Comment Not ‘Directed’ At Jonathan Taylor

Ever since Dalvin Cook‘s release, it seems as if the running back position is going to die suddenly. The decline of the running back market has been a hot topic of discussion in recent months. Players from various teams across the league have united in their efforts to seek improved pay for the running back position.

Earlier this week, with star running Jonathan Taylor entering the final year of his contract, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay is speaking out against players doing just that.

NFL Running Back situation- We have negotiated a CBA,that took years of effort and hard work and compromise in good faith by both sides..to say now that a specific Player category wants another negotiation after the fact,is inappropriate. Some Agents are selling ‘bad faith’..

— Jim Irsay (@JimIrsay) July 26, 2023

Taylor’s agent subsequently responded to Irsay’s tweet on Wednesday, stating, “Bad faith is not paying your top offensive player.”

Bad faith is not paying your top offensive player https://t.co/ZYvrLhxygG

— malki kawa (@malkikawa) July 27, 2023

Irsay did not specify in his post whether he was referring to RBs seeking better pay in general, or if he believes the NFL’s star ball-carriers are hoping for a change in application of the franchise tag. Now, he’s stated the previous comment wasn’t “directed” at Taylor, according to ESPN.

“We haven’t exchanged any contract numbers with each other or anything like that,” Irsay said. “So, it’s not like we’re in the midst of that. I think we had a tough season last year. Didn’t win a lot of games. This is a year about coming back together and having a great year and we’re really depending on Jonathan to team up with Anthony Richardson to try and pull together to have a great year.”

Taylor, 24, is young and an absolute stud at running back. Through three seasons with the Colts, Taylor has amassed 3,841 yards and 33 touchdowns on 5.1 yards per carry. His 2021 season was one of the best in history. He rushed for 1,811 yards, 18 touchdowns and averaged 106.5 yards per game. Taylor earned 1st team All-Pro honors and secured the second spot in OPOY voting.

The current CBA dictates that a franchise tag is a one-year deal, priced either at the average of the top-five player salaries at a given position or 120 percent of the tagged player’s cap number from the previous season. This offseason, teams placed the franchise tag on three top-tier running backs—Tony Pollard, Saquon Barkley, and Josh Jacobs—valued at $10.091 million.

Jim Irsay is slowly making the RB market worse

Saquon Barkley agreed to a one-year, $11 million contract with the New York Giants on Thursday. Pollard signed his tag with the intention to play on it. Jacobs still hasn’t signed his one-year tender and hasn’t reported to the Raiders’ training camp, and has no plans of returning to Vegas anytime soon.

“We love Jonathan, we need Jonathan,” Irsay said. “Our hope is Jonathan has an outstanding year and that we have a good year as a team and then we get his next contract done. That’s the hope. We think the world of him as a person, as a player. It’s just timing. When your time comes to get paid, then you get paid.”

Irsay has not made an official contract offer to Taylor, who is seeking a new deal. The Colts won’t extend Taylor before his deal ends, despite comforting comments. By that time, the market could shrink even more and leave Taylor in a bad position money-wise.

***

Subscribe to Vendetta’s Twitch

Subscribe to Vendetta’s YouTube

Click here for more NFL content