In an era in which running backs have been devalued, the Jets are one of eight NFL teams who actually spend more money on the position than they do on quarterbacks.
The Jets have a little over $9 million locked up in two quarterbacks right now – Sam Darnold and Mike White – but will spend around $18.4 million on four running backs – Le’Veon Bell, Trenton Cannon, Josh Adams and Kenneth Dixon. Darnold obviously takes up most of that money with an $8.3 million cap hit for the quarterbacks, while White costs $675,000. Bell, meanwhile, leads the running back group with a $15.5 million, while the other three cost less than $800,000 each.
While that may seem like a bad use of money, it makes sense if you look at the other seven teams who also pay less than $10 million for their quarterbacks. The Jets, along with the Jaguars, Texans, Broncos, Giants, Ravens, Cardinals and Patriots, all feature quarterbacks on cheap rookie contracts or ones who signed for the minimum. New York also just gave Bell a lucrative contract in 2019, similar to how the Texans, Broncos and Ravens are also paying for veteran running backs. The problem is, only three of those teams made the postseason in 2019 – the Texans, Ravens and Patriots. That season, only the Ravens actually paid less for their quarterback of those three.
It isn’t a bad thing to pay so little for a quarterback, especially when he’s on a rookie deal. Those contracts are the easiest path to success in roster building in the NFL. The Chiefs will spend less on Patrick Mahomes than the Jets did on Darnold in 2020, but they’ve been able to use their extra cap space more effectively to construct a contending team. The Jets need to do a better job of that this season or hope their offensive line plays better after a horrific 2019.
Spending a lot of cap space on running backs isn’t always a bad option, either. It just matters how and who you spend it on. The Jets rank third in cap space allocated to running backs behind the Rams and the 49ers, who finished first with $21.6 million spent. San Francisco’s running game actually fueled their journey to the Super Bowl, but they spread all their money out between five running backs – three of which were instrumental in their 2019 success.
Unless you’re a draft wizard, you have to spend money to create a competitive team. The Jets are fortunate that they still have a good, young quarterback on their roster with a small salary to offset the big contract they gave to Bell. That won’t last forever, though, and it will be telling how Joe Douglas builds the team around Darnold and Bell and if that will translate into more wins in 2020.
