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On paper, Jacobs’s four-year, $48 million contract with Green Bay is lavish. However, the $14.8 million obligation only actually applies to the Packers for one season. Despite having the most total cash hit of any running back to date in 2024, his cap hit for the next season is actually only $5.3 million. In any case, Green Bay has much exceeded any previous Super Bowl victor in the amount of salary cap it has allotted to an RB1.

Whether there is correlation or causality is the key question here. Are teams missing out on the Super Bowl because they give running backs too much of their resources, potentially losing skill at other positions? Or can teams with lesser-paid running backs still win the Super Bowl?

It’s challenging to

However, if we look at the losing team’s budget from previous Super Bowls, we can see that more money was allocated to running backs. Let’s start with Christian McCaffrey’s $12 million dead cap charge for the San Francisco 49ers in the previous year. In 2021, Todd Gurley earned a $21 million signing bonus, which the Los Angeles Rams had to deal with, while Joe Mixon made $5 million for the Cincinnati Bengals. With Jonathan Stewart earning $4.25 million during the Carolina Panthers’ 2015 NFC championship season, it is conceivable to at least qualify for the Super Bowl without a cheap running back.

Running backs are having difficulty landing big-money contracts; five are expected to make over $10 million this season.

However, there are still methods to succeed, much like the Seahawks in 2013, and one of those ways is by making cost savings at other positions. There is a saying in football that a rookie quarterback is the most valuable player. But with Jordan Love expected to cash in, Green Bay won’t have that either. The front staff in Green Bay, along with Russ Ball, will perform magic to match Love’s deal with the team’s present direction. However, what is currently driving their success is the amazing draft classes that Brian Gutekunst assembled throughout the previous two seasons.