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With roughly a month to go before NFL training camps open, a number of veteran running backs remain available on the free-agent market. Dalvin Cook, Ezekiel Elliott and Leonard Fournette are among the bigger names still looking for a team.
Two-time Pro Bowler Melvin Gordon is also among that group, and he's not satisfied with the way things have gone this offseason. Gordon was brutally honest about the state of running back free agency, saying, "It's literally the worst position to play in the NFL right now."
Gordon made those comments during a radio appearance on the Jim Rome show.
Gordon said he still wants to play and has a lot to still contribute to a team. But added that it's difficult for running backs to get attention on the market.
"It's just so tough for running backs right now, man," Gordon said. "You have a lot of running backs that's out there. We just don't get no love. It's literally the worst position to play in the NFL right now. It literally sucks."
He's not wrong. In addition to Cook, Elliott, Fournette and Gordon, Kareem Hunt, Mark Ingram and James Robinson are still available. That group has combined for 13 Pro Bowl appearances and can't find work.
At the same time, running backs tend to break down early. Players get drafted and receive a ton of playing time while on their rookie deals. They get hit between 300 and 400 times a season for multiple years before they are eligible for a significant pay raise.
When that time comes, only the elite players get mega-contracts. Many of the players who sustained all those hits en route to multiple 1,200 yard seasons get pushed to the wayside in favor of someone younger or someone with more tread on their tires.
All of the running backs still available on the free-agent market have likely already played their best football. It's tough for teams to shell out significant money on players they know are already in decline.
Barring major changes to the collective-bargaining agreement, Gordon and other running backs will likely find themselves in this situation for the next couple of offseasons. The way the league is set up, it's foolish to pay running backs big money once they hit the free-agent market.
Until something changes, it's tough to argue Gordon's point. Running back is currently the worst position to play in the NFL.
Daniel Weinman was crowned winner of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event on Monday, taking home a record breaking $12.1 million in winnings. Weinman had to outlast the other 10,043 entrants to take home the prize and get his hands on his share of live poker’s largest ever prize pool – a staggering $93,399,900. As well as taking home the prize money, 35-year-old Weinman also got his hands on the WSOP Main Event bracelet. The huge bracelet contains 500 grams of 10-karat yellow gold, as well as 2,352 various precious gemstones.
Daniel Weinman won the World Series of Poker's main event world championship on Monday in Las Vegas, earning $12.1 million along the way. Playing in the tournament for a 16th year, Weinman was tops in a deep pool of 10,043 players vying for $93.39 million. His victory came after just 164 hands at the final table. "I was honestly on the fence about even coming back and playing this tournament," the 35-year-old Atlanta native told reporters afterward. Weinman's final table featured Jan-Peter Jachtmann, who landed in fourth place and took home $3 million, as well as Toby Lewis, who finished seventh and secured $1.42 million. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the main event's entry pool far outpaced the previous record of 8,773 set in 2006. "I've always kind of felt that poker was kind of going in a dying direction, but to see the numbers at the World Series this year has been incredible," Weinman said. "And to win this main event, it doesn't feel real. I mean, [there's] so much luck in a poker tournament. I thought I played very well." Steven Jones finished second, securing $6.5 million. And Adam Walton settled for third and a $4 million prize.
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