If Jamaal Charles ties his shoes this week at training camp, he’s making a mistake. If he runs around a single cone or receives a pass while in an outhouse, he’s making a mistake. If Charles attends training camp without a contract extension, or a renegotiated contract, or fair compensation through any means, he’s making a mistake.
The Kansas City Chiefs start their training camp tomorrow, and they’ll already be doing it with a disgruntled Justin Houston, who also deserves more cash, and an only slightly more gruntled Alex Smith, who’s seeking an extension too. Now Charles may use his only source of leverage to advance his cause: not playing.
Late Tuesday afternoon KCTV5 first reported Charles won’t be showing up for camp on time because of a paycheck protest, with NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport confirming this morning by saying Charles won’t be present without a breakthrough in extension talks. The Chiefs still “believe” Charles will show up on time.
What’s clear as Charles Watch 2014 begins is that he’s unhappy with the current gap between the numbers associated with his on-field production, and those that appear on his game checks. He should be, and if he makes an appearance tomorrow, he’ll be showing a reckless disregard for the value of his work, and his health.
Charles is scheduled to make a base salary of $2.65 million in 2014, which gets pushed to $3.9 million with bonuses. That tiny sum compared to his peers comes after Charles finished third in rushing this past season with 1,267 at a pace of 5.0 per carry. Even more impressively, he set a new career high with 1,980 total yards from scrimmage, and 19 touchdowns.
Look at those numbers again, and then let these monetary digits from Charles’ peers sink in:
Ray Rice has a base salary of $4 million this year, after 981 total yards in 2013
Steven Jackson will make $3 million, after 734 total yards in 2013
Frank Gore will make $3.3 million, after 1,269 tot yards in 2013
C.J. Spiller will make $3.5 million, after 1,118 total yards in 2013
Arian Foster will make $5.8 million, after 725 total yards in 2013
Charles finished second overall in yards from scrimmage with a whooping average of 132 per game this past season, yet somehow he’s out of the top 10 in 2014 pay. Even when his bonuses are tossed in, he still tumbles to 15th among running backs.
The decline and slow extinction of the running back as a money-making commodity in the NFL has been well documented. But what’s especially damning is that even by the standards of today’s declining market, Charles is still underpaid. During free agency this past March the Jaguars handed Toby Gerhart a contract that will pay him $4.5 million in 2014. Gerhart goes to Jacksonville with plenty of promise and fresh legs, but his single-season yardage high is only 721, a wee bit behind Charles.
If his pay that falls far below what the current market dictates isn’t enough motivation, then the true need for Charles to do nothing but watch this week until he’s paid lies in his age, and status as the Chiefs’ sole offensive engine.
When his current contract expires Charles will be 29 years old. That’s not exactly a prime time for a pay day, as the age of 30 is traditionally when the gradual (or sometimes not gradual at all) running back decline begins. So he needs to cash out now before the onset of football body decay.
Of course plenty of running backs plow through that age 30 wall, with the mileage on their fast-moving legs the number that matters far more than any digit on their birth certificate. But Charles runs into more trouble there, as under Andy Reid’s methodical west coast system the Chiefs may have him 12 feet under ground two years from now.
Charles had a career high 320 touches in 2014. With that he accounted for 36.5 percent of the Chiefs’ total regular-season touchdowns, and 36.6 percent of their total offense. Yet he’s still only third in pay among Kansas City’s 11 projected starters.
The heaviest lean under Reid was on Charles in the passing game, an area where he shattered all previous career highs while leading his offense in receiving yards (693), receptions (70), and receiving touchdowns (7). A gentle reminder: Jamaal Charles is a running back.
He’s the increasingly rare player at the position in today’s NFL who needs to get paid. The problem is the Chiefs have $9.4 million in cap room, with extensions for Houston and Smith set to gobble it up.
But that’s not Charles’ problem. He’s one bad cut or awkward hit away from his second career ACL tear, and by playing -- or even participating in training camp -- he would taking that risk while being paid far below his value. Right now, sitting is his best leverage.