Will Saquon Barkley's historic season help free agent RBs?

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ON A SATURDAY in late July 2023, the NFL's top running backs joined a Zoom call. The call, organized by Austin Ekeler, included Saquon Barkley, Nick Chubb, Derrick Henry, Josh Jacobs and Christian McCaffrey. In a gallery of their peers, they aired grievances about a depressed market for players at their position and brainstormed ways to increase their value and compensation.

Barkley and Jacobs had been franchise-tagged for $10.1 million -- lowest among all offensive and defensive positions -- until their organizations applied a temporary financial band-aid to avoid a holdout with short-term deals slightly higher than the franchise tag valuation. Still, the prospect of…