With his great game on Thursday night, D’Andre Swift may have inadvertently made the case against paying running backs that so many of his fellow running backs hate.
Swift ran for an NFL season-high 175 yards in Thursday night’s win over the Vikings, showing what a dominant running attack can still do for an NFL team, even in today’s more pass-oriented game. For his efforts, he was named the NFC offensive player of the week.
So why does that make the case against paying running backs? Because the Eagles chose to go the cheap route on running backs this season, and it’s paying off for them: They let their leading rusher, Miles Sanders, walk away in free agency and brought in Swift as a much cheaper alternative. Sanders signed a four-year, $25.4 million contract with the Panthers, while the Eagles gave up a fourth-round pick to get Swift from the Lions and will pay him just $1.8 million this season.
The Lions, meanwhile, spent significant resources trying to improve their running game, but they’re not running the ball as well as the Eagles are with Swift. Detroit’s highly paid free agent running back, David Montgomery, was injured in Week Two, while the Lions’ other running back, 12th overall pick Jhamyr Gibbs, managed just 17 yards on seven carries.
If a cheap running back like Swift can show up and instantly turn in a Player of the Week performance, why should teams pay a lot of money at the position? That’s not a question running backs like to hear, but it’s one that NFL teams are increasingly asking.