The Patriots signed contract-year running back Rhamondre Stevenson to a 4-year, $36 million extension yesterday. This qualifies as a pretty surprising deal. As we've regularly discussed, teams don't tend to pay running backs. They especially don't pay them before they have to.
Stevenson was headed into the final year of his rookie contract, and I'm not really sure why New England didn't want to let him just play it out. They have (I think) one of the better No. 2 running backs in Antonio Gibson. And Stevenson himself has been a decent player, but doesn't seem like one of the guys you hate to let get close to free agency, especially in today's NFL.
There are different metrics that can be looked at, but consider yards per touch -- production on both runs and receptions. It's not the end-all and be-all, and is affected by offensive system and the line in front of the player, but looking at the numbers, most of the guys who were really good in this area last year are widely considered among the league's best backs. And the guys who weren't, by and large, are not.
Stevenson was one of the latter guys. A year ago there were 42 running backs who touched the ball at least 150 times. Christian McCaffrey averaged 6 yards per touch, and some of the other very best players included Jahmyr Gibbs, Bijan Robinson and Breece Hall, all up in the 5.5 range.
Stevenson was down at 4.4, There were 13 backs worse than him, and more than half of those players most will agree were among 2023's worst backs: Miles Sanders, Dameon Pierce, Alexander Mattison, AJ Dillon, Javonte Williams, Kareem Hunt. It doesn't look great being down in that area.
| RUNNING BACK YARDS PER TOUCH, 2023 (150-PLUS) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Att | Run | No | Rec | TD | Y/Tch |
| Christian McCaffrey, S.F. | 272 | 1459 | 67 | 564 | 21 | 6.0 |
| James Cook, Buff. | 237 | 1122 | 44 | 445 | 6 | 5.6 |
| Tyjae Spears, Ten. | 100 | 453 | 52 | 385 | 3 | 5.5 |
| Jaylen Warren, Pitt. | 149 | 784 | 61 | 370 | 4 | 5.5 |
| Jahmyr Gibbs, Det. | 182 | 945 | 52 | 316 | 11 | 5.4 |
| Bijan Robinson, Atl. | 214 | 976 | 58 | 487 | 8 | 5.4 |
| Breece Hall, NYJ | 223 | 994 | 76 | 591 | 9 | 5.3 |
| Kyren Williams, LAR | 228 | 1144 | 32 | 206 | 15 | 5.2 |
| Aaron Jones, G.B. | 142 | 656 | 30 | 233 | 3 | 5.2 |
| Brian Robinson, Was. | 178 | 733 | 36 | 368 | 9 | 5.1 |
| James Conner, Ari. | 208 | 1040 | 27 | 165 | 9 | 5.1 |
| Raheem Mostert, Mia. | 209 | 1012 | 25 | 175 | 21 | 5.1 |
| Khalil Herbert, Chi. | 132 | 611 | 20 | 134 | 3 | 4.9 |
| David Montgomery, Det. | 219 | 1015 | 16 | 117 | 13 | 4.8 |
| Jonathan Taylor, Ind. | 169 | 741 | 19 | 153 | 8 | 4.8 |
| Isiah Pacheco, K.C. | 205 | 935 | 44 | 244 | 9 | 4.7 |
| Gus Edwards, Balt. | 198 | 810 | 12 | 180 | 13 | 4.7 |
| D'Andre Swift, Phil. | 229 | 1049 | 39 | 214 | 6 | 4.7 |
| Zack Moss, Ind. | 183 | 794 | 27 | 192 | 7 | 4.7 |
| Kenneth Walker, Sea. | 219 | 905 | 29 | 259 | 9 | 4.7 |
| Austin Ekeler, LAC | 179 | 628 | 51 | 436 | 6 | 4.6 |
| Rachaad White, T.B. | 272 | 990 | 64 | 549 | 9 | 4.6 |
| Travis Etienne, Jac. | 267 | 1008 | 58 | 476 | 12 | 4.6 |
| Jerome Ford, Cle. | 204 | 813 | 44 | 319 | 9 | 4.6 |
| Joe Mixon, Cin. | 257 | 1034 | 52 | 376 | 12 | 4.6 |
| Alvin Kamara, N.O. | 180 | 694 | 75 | 466 | 6 | 4.5 |
| Derrick Henry, Ten. | 280 | 1167 | 28 | 214 | 12 | 4.5 |
| Devin Singletary, Hou. | 216 | 898 | 30 | 193 | 4 | 4.4 |
| Rhamondre Stevenson, N.E. | 156 | 619 | 38 | 238 | 4 | 4.4 |
| Saquon Barkley, NYG | 247 | 962 | 41 | 280 | 10 | 4.3 |
| Tyler Allgeier, Atl. | 186 | 683 | 18 | 193 | 5 | 4.3 |
| Tony Pollard, Dall. | 252 | 1005 | 55 | 311 | 6 | 4.3 |
| Alexander Mattison, Min. | 180 | 700 | 30 | 192 | 3 | 4.2 |
| Najee Harris, Pitt. | 255 | 1035 | 29 | 170 | 8 | 4.2 |
| AJ Dillon, G.B. | 178 | 613 | 22 | 223 | 2 | 4.2 |
| Chuba Hubbard, Car. | 238 | 902 | 39 | 233 | 5 | 4.1 |
| Josh Jacobs, L.V. | 233 | 805 | 37 | 296 | 6 | 4.1 |
| Ezekiel Elliott, N.E. | 184 | 642 | 51 | 313 | 5 | 4.1 |
| Javonte Williams, Den. | 217 | 774 | 47 | 228 | 5 | 3.8 |
| Miles Sanders, Car. | 129 | 432 | 27 | 154 | 1 | 3.8 |
| Kareem Hunt, Cle. | 135 | 411 | 15 | 84 | 9 | 3.3 |
| Dameon Pierce, Hou. | 145 | 416 | 13 | 101 | 3 | 3.3 |
A couple of the lesser performers did get fat new contracts: Saquon Barkley and Josh Jacobs. Jacobs is a guy I continually point out is annually underrated, while Barkley is generally defended as having little chance to prosper in the Giants' horrific offense. And note that Stevenson's backfield mate Ezekiel Elliott was actually even worse in the same offense, averaging 4.1 yards per touch. So it's fair to argue that in an improved offense, which New England's will probably be, Stevenson could take off and have a really good year.
Since quarterbacks and wide receivers annually get huge extensions with a year or more left on their contracts, I don't want to knock Stevenson too much for getting paid early. Good for him; the system tends to screw running backs, and there's no reason why they shouldn't also benefit with an early deal.
But it's surprising. Stevenson has been a good running back, but nothing from his career thus far has said $9 million per year contract extension with a year left on his rookie deal. Surprising move by the Patriots.
I don't expect to have Stevenson on any of my teams this year. Nothing against him, but I think Gibson is a good back who was underused in a lousy Washington offense. (Gibson's 113 touches last year didn't qualify him for this table, but he averaged 5.8 yards per touch -- would show up just behind McCaffrey.)
I think Gibson should at the very least play in some passing situations, and could push for more work. The Patriots signed him at the start of free agency to a three-year contract averaging nearly $4 million per year, with over $5 million guaranteed. Seems like he's going to be a part of their offense. So while I don't dislike the starter, I think he'll be selected earlier than I'd take him anywhere.
But the Patriots obviously think pretty highly of him. I guess this year will show if they're right.
--Andy Richardson