Two of the NFL’s most productive running backs haven’t gotten off to the races quite yet at training camp.
The Detroit Lions' Jahmyr Gibbs and Atlanta Falcons' Bijan Robinson have been just mere spectators as they play their hands in an apparent contract "hold-in " as their teams get to work.
Lions coach Dan Campbell and Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski insist the focus remains on the active participants.
“My job is to coach who’s out there right now," Campbell said Thursday. “I love the kid, but man, I’ve got a team to coach right now.”
As for Stefanski’s outlook: “Just coach the football team. Understand there’s a business side to what we do.”
The first-year Falcons coach said he has had conversations with Robinson, but those will remain private.
“I don’t think it’s fair to share those types of things, and I think we all trust in the process, what’s going on," he said.
Both players have the resume for a hefty paycheck.
Robinson led the league with 2,298 yards from scrimmage last season. He rushed for 1,478 yards with seven touchdowns and set career highs with 79 receptions for 820 yards and four touchdowns, earning an AP All-Pro selection and his second Pro Bowl appearance.
Gibbs, too, ranked in the top 10 with 1,228 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns. After three years in the league, he's one of just four in league history to surpass 4,500 yards from scrimmage and score 45-plus touchdowns, and he's three-for-three in Pro Bowl selections.
A once underappreciated running back market has been reset as the Eagles awarded Saquon Barkley's Super Bowl run and Offensive Player of the Year campaign with a record-breaking two-year, $41 million extension ahead of last season.
Both Gibbs and Robinson are expected to seek similar figures, meaning there could be power — and a discount — in being the first team to cross the finish line.
Campbell figured the Lions would've done so already.
“I thought we’d have been done by now, but also, I know how this goes, man. I’ve been in this league a long time, player and a coach,” he said. "So I’m not even sweating it.”
A hold-in has proven a successful negotiation tactic before. James Cook, who held in at the start of last season, earned a four-year, $46 million extension with the Buffalo Bills.
“Go for it,” Cook encouraged Gibbs and Robinson from Buffalo. “Get your money.”
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