Who are the top 5 Highest-Paid Running Backs (RBs) in the NFL this year?

According to overthecap.com, a website that records NFL player contracts, 20 NFL running backs earn at least $4 million in average yearly pay. According to the annual average value (AAV) of the contracts, which running backs are among the top 5 most paid in the league?

The salary cap for running backs in the NFL hasn’t been lifted two years after Christian McCaffrey signed a record-breaking $64 million agreement with the Carolina Panthers. According to Over The Cap, McCaffrey earns $16 million a year on a four-year contract, making him the highest-paid athlete at the position.

The top five most paid ball carriers have remained the same for the past two seasons, despite players at other skill positions like quarterback and wide receiver setting new marks for contract lengths. Here is the list of the top 5 highest paid RBs in the NFL this year:

1) Christian McCaffrey, Carolina Panthers

In the offseason of 2020, Christian McCaffrey extended his contract for a further four years. The contract had a value of a little over $64 million and a $21.5 million signing bonus. Additionally, McCaffrey earned $38.2 million in guarantees, which includes the whole $8.4 million of his 2022 compensation. McCaffrey has appeared in just 10 of the Panthers’ 33 games since signing the contract, totalling just 543 snaps on the field.

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McCaffrey’s cap figure for the following season is at $14.3 million as of the end of February 2022. The Panthers may repurpose part of it, but doing so would be risky given that his cap cost for the following two years is projected to be $17.7 million each.

2) Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas Cowboys

During the 2021 season, Tony Pollard’s ascent thrust Ezekiel Elliott’s contract into the spotlight. Elliott’s original six-year contract extension is only about to start its second year. Elliott is the highest-paid running back in the NFL in 2022 ($18.22 million) based on his cap figure. The Cowboys can, however, quite easily transfer a sizable portion of that cash into the future if they so choose.

3) Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints

With a salary of $15 million annually, Alvin Kamara is now tied for the second-highest paid running back in the NFL. His cap figure will increase from $5 million in 2021 to $14.5 million in 2022, making it the second season of the five-year agreement. In addition to a $15 million signing bonus, his contract included $33.833 million in guarantees.

4) Dalvin Cook, Minnesota Vikings

Dalvin Cook, who also has the longest contract of any player on this list thus far, is perched atop this little tier. Four years remain on Cook’s five-year contract deal. The cap figures also begin to increase from this year onward, with a hit of $11.88 million in 2022 ($5.11 million in 2021). The 2022 season may provide insight into the contract’s future. The Vikings have until the third day of the 2023 league year to opt out of the agreement before a part of his base pay for that year becomes guaranteed.

5) Derrick Henry, Tennessee Titans

As things stand, Derrick Henry’s deal will make him the second-highest paid RB in terms of cap figure in 2022 ($15 million). Now that the guarantees have expired and a contract is simply a two-year option, it starts to become interesting. The leftover proration from the $12 million signing bonus would be the only dead money on the cap at this time.

 

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