To help pass the time from now until the start of training camp, we’ll be looking at where every team ranks in positional spending. Today, we’re looking at running backs. The position was the victim of the analytics movement for most of the last 10 years, but recently there’s been a small resurgence of investment at the position. Running back spending is up across the league as the market for the position normalizes, meaning it’s growing along with the salary cap and not stalling or shrinking. It’s still among the smaller chunks of the salary cap pie for most teams.
One note: rather than count dead money toward the positional groups, we will have it ranked separately in a post of its own. For example, Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa‘s $55.4 million dead cap hit won’t count toward Miami’s quarterback spending, but it will be included in their league-leading $179 million dead cap figure.
Here’s how the league’s running back rooms shake out from most expensive to least expensive:
Resources:
1 – Arizona Cardinals: $22,673,132
- Percentage of total cap: 7.53 percent
- 2025 rank: 8th
- Top cap hit: Jeremiyah Love, $9,640,512 (3.2 percent)
- PFF grade: NA
2 – New Orleans Saints: $21,356,064
- Percentage of total cap: 7.09 percent
- 2025 rank: 5th
- Top cap hit: Alvin Kamara, $10,447,471 (3.47 percent)
- Other notable cap hit: Travis Etienne, $5,000,000 (1.66 percent)
- PFF grade: 74.2
3 – Green Bay Packers: $20,789,061
- Percentage of total cap: 6.9 percent
- 2025 rank: 4th
- Top cap hit: Josh Jacobs, $14,542,647 (4.83 percent)
- PFF grade: 85.8
4 – Indianapolis Colts: $19,361,913
- Percentage of total cap: 6.43 percent
- 2025 rank: 1st
- Top cap hit: Jonathan Taylor, $15,562,000 (5.17 percent)
- PFF grade: 78.1
5 – Los Angeles Rams: $18,610,796
- Percentage of total cap: 6.18 percent
- 2025 rank: 22nd
- Top cap hit: Kyren Williams, $12,932,500 (4.29 percent)
- PFF grade: 85.2
6 – Minnesota Vikings: $17,838,395
- Percentage of total cap: 5.92 percent
- 2025 rank: 15th
- Top cap hit: Aaron Jones, $10,210,000 (3.39 percent)
- PFF grade: 65.0
7 – Tennessee Titans: $17,576,579
- Percentage of total cap: 5.84 percent
- 2025 rank: 14th
- Top cap hit: Tony Pollard, $9,250,000 (3.07 percent)
- PFF grade: 75.3
8 – New York Jets: $17,530,549
- Percentage of total cap: 5.82 percent
- 2025 rank: 24th
- Top cap hit: Breece Hall, $11,480,000 (3.81 percent)
- PFF grade: 83.5
9 – San Francisco 49ers: $16,544,211
- Percentage of total cap: 5.49 percent
- 2025 rank: 13th
- Top cap hit: Christian McCaffrey, $10,856,472 (3.6 percent)
- PFF grade: 77.2
10 – Philadelphia Eagles: $15,850,740
- Percentage of total cap: 5.26 percent
- 2025 rank: 11th
- Top cap hit: Saquon Barkley, $9,881,100 (3.28 percent)
- PFF grade:...