Two of the best young running backs in football are sitting out practice reps right now, and for once it's not really about injury or discontent, it's about leverage. Jahmyr Gibbs and Bijan Robinson both got their fifth-year options picked up, which means neither guy is going anywhere, but both know their value only grows the longer they wait to sign.
According to Ian Rapoport, the Lions and Gibbs aren't moving with the same urgency the Falcons and Robinson are showing in their own negotiations. That's a notable gap given how often these two get mentioned in the same breath — same draft class, same tier of do-everything backs, same market they're both trying to set.
Robinson gives the Falcons a real case for urgency. He led the NFL in all-purpose yards last season, went First Team All-Pro, and got real Offensive Player of the Year buzz off 1,478 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns on 287 carries. That kind of season is exactly what turns a rookie deal into a record-setting extension, and it's reportedly put him on track to become the league's highest-paid running back.
Gibbs isn't chopped liver either — he's been one of Dan Campbell's most explosive weapons since Detroit drafted him, and the belief around the building is that a deal gets done eventually, without any real drama attached. But 'eventually' is doing a lot of work when Robinson's camp appears to be operating on a faster clock.
That's the game within the game here. Neither side wants to blink first and set the lower number, so both camps have incentive to let the other sign and then use it as the floor for their own ask. If Robinson gets his historic payday before Gibbs, Detroit's number just went up. If it happens the other way, Atlanta pays the price.
For now it's a staring contest playing out at two different training camps, with both backs standing on the sideline in street clothes instead of running routes. Whoever blinks first sets the market — and right now, all signs point to Atlanta moving quicker to get theirs done.