Older NFL RBs are thriving: What does it mean for future deals?

This has been the NFL season of the free agent running back. When I filed my quarter-season awards column after Week 4, the top two players competing for Offensive Player of the Year honors were the Ravens’ Derrick Henry and the Eagles’ Saquon Barkley, both of whom were signed away from teams that didn’t really want to keep them in unrestricted free agency. My midseason awards are coming up in a couple of weeks, and I’d be surprised if both weren’t in the top three again.

Henry and Barkley are having an impact on and off the field. Giants fans spent Sunday furious that their franchise let Barkley leave for the Eagles, a sentiment legendary coach Bill Belichick shared the day after Philadelphia beat New York 28-3. Alvin Kamara, who wasn’t able to agree to terms on a new deal with the Saints during the offseason, just signed a two-year extension for $24.5 million. Has a league that spent years treating veteran backs as overrated and foolish investments finally realized it has gone too far?

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Let’s take a closer look at the four most prominent free agent backs from the 2024 offseason — Henry, Barkley, Joe Mixon and Josh Jacobs — and evaluate what they’ve done this season. How have they exceeded expectations? Can they keep it up? And what will it mean for the rest of the NFL’s running backs beyond the season?

Jump to a section:
Big plays are back for Henry, Barkley
How much has blocking helped them?
How valuable has Mixon been for HOU?
Has Jacobs been a good signing for GB?
What all this means for future free agent RBs

Henry’s deal with the Ravens: Two years, $16 million
Barkley’s deal with the Eagles: Three years, $37.5 million

Let’s start with the two most prominent backs to change teams during free agency, because there are notable similarities between their starts to the season. Henry leads the league with 873 rushing yards, while Barkley ranks third (658) behind the 49ers’ Jordan Mason (667). They rank 1-2 in yards from scrimmage and rush yards over expectation (RYOE), with Henry posting a whopping 363 RYOE through seven games. Barkley, in second place, is at 226. Henry’s 26 additional carries explain some of that gap, but Barkley is closer to eighth than he is to Henry in first.

They also rank 1-2 in explosive runs, which are carries gaining 10 or more yards. And that’s where the 2024 versions of Barkley and Henry stand out. Before we get to that point, though, we have to understand what has been helping to make their lives easier. Let’s hit the commonalities between these two situations and how they’ve helped these two star backs hit lofty heights in their new locales:

1. Each enjoys the gravity of a quarterback who can run.