Photo by BullDawg2021, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsNobody Finishes These Contracts
Bijan Robinson earned every dollar of his record-breaking $75 million extension. The dollars won't buy a championship -- they never do at running back.
Bijan Robinson just became the highest-paid running back in NFL history. Three years. $75 million. $51 million guaranteed.
He's also the latest entry in a graveyard.
Only 3 of the 20 largest RB contracts in NFL history saw the player finish the deal. That's a 15% survival rate. Gurley got released two years into $60 million. Bell got cut midway through Year 2 with zero Pro Bowls after signing. Zeke finished dead last in the NFL in yards per touch on his $90 million extension.
Here's the part Atlanta doesn't want to hear. No Super Bowl winner since 2013 has had a leading rusher with a cap hit above $2 million. Over a decade of evidence. Not a trend -- a verdict.
Robinson led the NFL with 2,298 scrimmage yards last season. First-team All-Pro. The only player in history with 1,400 rush yards and 810 receiving yards in a single season. He earned every dollar of this deal.
The dollars aren't the problem. The math is. The Falcons committed $357.8 million in offensive extensions this offseason. Robinson and Bergeron alone account for $171 million on the ground game. In 2026. In a league that spent the last decade proving championships belong to teams with quarterbacks on rookie deals and running backs on minimums.
Robinson is the exception to everything -- until the contract kicks in. Then he's the most talented name on a very long list.
If he finishes all three years, I'll write the apology column myself.
The Tilt
Bijan Robinson is the best RB in football, and his $75M extension is still a mistake.
— Dex Ponce
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