Rich: Why Jonathan Taylor Deserves Every Penny of His Colts Contract Extension

Running backs are finally getting paid, and Rich still does not think it is enough.

Jonathan Taylor has a new two-year extension worth $44 million, a deal that can climb to 47 with 39 guaranteed. That makes it the third richest running back contract in the league, behind Bijan Robinson and, Rich believes, Saquon Barkley. It arrived after Robinson got paid, with Taylor entering the last year of the deal he had to hold his breath to get, and it followed the most diplomatic possible non-answer.

"I've been trying to just focus on getting better, making sure I'm staying in shape," Taylor said. "I have faith. So, I'm going to tap in and check in with him after you guys break the news to me."

The agent, it turns out, was already on the phone.

Context matters here, because Taylor has been through this once already. Back in 2023, when the running back market was at its ugliest, he went to Jim Irsay and got told he was not getting it. He had to hold his breath, stamp his feet and sit out to eventually get paid. That situation, as Chris pointed out, traces back to Le'Veon Bell, who sat out an entire year as both a lead back and effectively a number one receiver. Rich thinks it threw off Bell's whole career.

The case for paying the position is not sentimental. Running backs take time off the clock when you need to close a game. They get the first down that seals it. They create matchup problems in the passing game if they are good enough, and they are standing next to the quarterback when somebody comes free. They are crucial, Rich argued, and they get paid less than tackles, guards, quarterbacks, receivers and tight ends mostly because their careers are shorter.

Even after the recent wave, the math is stark. At $25 million a year, a top back is roughly $15 million shy of Ja'Marr Chase, about $10 million from Justin Jefferson and around $8 million from CeeDee Lamb. Chris ran a comparison that lands harder: Zay Flowers just got $108 million, Robinson got $51 million, Taylor got $39 million guaranteed, and the two backs combined still fall well short of the receiver. Alec Pierce, for that matter, makes more, which is what the market bears for a free agent with New England, in Rich's telling, falling all over themselves to go get him, and which forced Chris Ballard to dig deep for a player who has not done it consistently yet.

Taylor has. He led the NFL in rushing attempts and touchdowns last season with 323 carries and 18 scores, ran for 1,585 yards and set career highs with 46 catches for 378 receiving yards. He has topped 300 carries in each of the past two seasons. The only player with more rushes over that stretch is Derrick Henry, who does it every year and has for a decade.

Next up is Jahmyr Gibbs, who has been holding in with Detroit and just reappeared at practice, which according to Albert Breer means a new deal is expected to be finalized soon. Whether it tops Robinson is the question of the hour.

That leads to the fun part, the part where these deals stop being about money and start being about usage. What does Gibbs look like with a bell cow around his neck? What does Robinson look like now that Kevin Stefanski is the head coach, rather than a staff that handed it to somebody else inside the five, as Arthur Smith did during Robinson's rookie year?

With Taylor, nobody has to wonder. Everyone knows exactly what he looks like in that offense.

Rich's bottom line is that the shift is real and still incomplete. Ashton Jeanty went in the top 10 last year. Jeremiah Love went top five this year, the highest drafted back since Barkley went second overall. Taylor is 27, and the advice is simple: get it while you can get it.

"These running backs, I do not mind them holding in," Rich said. "I do not mind them saying, what about me? Let's go."