Star RBs to discuss devalued position

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. – Nick Chubb established himself long ago as a special player, a stunning mix of speed, power and precision. A threat to score for the Browns every time he touches the football.

These days, Chubb is even more unusual among his peers.

He’s well paid.

With a trend of NFL teams devaluing their position, Chubb and a few fellow star running backs Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry and Christian McCaffrey – along with some young ones – took part in a Zoom call on Saturday night to discuss their options in a dwindling market for ball carriers.

This subject was near and dear to Chubb. “There’s really nothing we can do,” he said Sunday following practice. “We’re kind of handcuffed with the situation. Our production hurts us the most. If we go out there and run for 2,000 yards with so many carries, the next year they’re going to say you’re probably worn down.

“That’s the biggest thing that I took from it (the call). It’s just tough. It hurts us just to go out there and do good. It hurts us at the end of the day.”

Unable to come to terms on a long-term contract from the New York Giants, Barkley threatened last week to sit out training camp in protest. The Giants offered the 26-year-old the $10 million franchise tender for running backs.

Josh Jacobs is in a similar situation with the Las Vegas Raiders and hasn’t signed his tender after failing to get a new deal.

Chubb, who rushed for a career-high 1,525 yards last season with 12 touchdowns, feels fortunate. He signed a three-year, $36 million deal in 2021 with Cleveland – the last running back to secure more than $10 million per season.

AP source: Raiders QB Garoppolo cleared to open camp

HENDERSON, Nev. – Quarterback Jimmy

Garoppolo passed a physical on his injured left foot and will begin training camp on Wednesday with the Las Vegas Raiders, a person with knowledge of the situation said.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement has been made.

Garoppolo did not participate in organized team activities because of the foot injury, but coach Josh McDaniels expressed confidence from the beginning the newly signed quarterback would be ready for camp.

“We’re always going to err at this time of the year on being smart,” McDaniels said at the time. “We don’t play a football game for 31⁄2 months, so try to rush (players) out there in May, it’s a poor decision.”

Garoppolo signed a three-year, $72.75 million free-agent contract on March 17. His deal was announced a day later than others because of concerns about the foot.

Chiefs DL Jones holding out of camp

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The defending Super

Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs held their first full-squad workout of training camp Sunday under a bright sunny sky and without AllPro defensive tackle Chris Jones.

Coach Andy Reid says he’s not worried yet about the absence of his star lineman, who has yet to report for camp in search of a new deal.

“We’ll just see how things go here down the road,” Reid said following Sunday’s practice. “There had been communication, we’ll see where it goes from here and we’ll take it. If you’re not here, we just keep moving, and that’s how we roll. We don’t worry a lot about that. We let it take care of itself and we got great people working on that.”

Jones is due to make $19.5 million in base salary this season and carries a salary cap hit of almost $28.3 million.

The Chiefs are also motivated to renegotiate his contract. The NFL Players Association public salary cap report Sunday showed the club with just more than $1 million in available cap space.

— Wire reports