Training camp is barely a week old and the two best fantasy running backs in football are both refusing to strap on pads until somebody writes them a bigger check. Bijan Robinson has now sat out four straight practices in Atlanta wearing nothing but a jersey, no helmet, no cleats, just standing on the sideline hyping up his teammates like a guy who knows he's earned this leverage. Jahmyr Gibbs is doing the same thing in Detroit, three practices missed and counting, dealing with a minor back issue during conditioning on top of the money standoff. Neither has requested a trade. Neither is truly "holding out," which is the technical distinction that matters here: both are reporting to their facilities, attending meetings, and just declining to run routes until there's a contract worth running routes for.
The Robinson situation is the more fascinating of the two on paper. He became extension-eligible this offseason, but the Falcons already picked up his fifth-year option, so his current deal technically runs through 2027 and pays him just under $7 million this year with $11.3 million on the option season. There's zero football reason for Atlanta to rush a new deal. The leverage Robinson has is entirely reputational: after a 2,298 scrimmage-yard season, he's in position to reset the running back market north of $20.6 million per year, and letting your best offensive player sulk through camp is a bad look for new coach Kevin Stefanski before he's coached a single game. Stefanski himself has said he expects this to get resolved amiably, which is coach-speak for "we're close."
Gibbs' math is similar but with a sharper deadline. Spotrac projects him landing something like three years and $60.45 million, roughly $20.61 million annually, which would make him the league's second-highest-paid back behind Saquon Barkley. Dan Campbell isn't sweating it publicly, and both sides are reportedly working toward a long-term number rather than digging in. The Lions have every incentive to get this done before Week 1 rolls around and Gibbs is trying to shake off camp rust in a contract year mentality he clearly doesn't want to be playing in.
Two other names are stuck in the same tracker for very different reasons. Bucs defensive tackle Vita Vea is holding in and has actually requested a trade, which is a real escalation compared to Robinson and Gibbs simply waiting on a number. He's making $17 million this year on a non-guaranteed deal and picked up a back injury during conditioning testing, which complicates any move even if Tampa Bay wanted to ship him out. Chargers pass rusher Tuli Tuipulotu is the least dramatic of the four, doing individual drills and working with trainers while avoiding full-team reps as his side keeps negotiating.
None of this should move Robinson or Gibbs off the top of your fantasy board. Robinson is currently going as the consensus 1.01 in early 2026 mock drafts, and that's before you even account for the fact that Tyler Allgeier is gone and Robinson is projected to soak up more than 75% of Atlanta's rushing share this season. A hold-in over money is, if anything, a signal the front office values him enough to be negotiating in good faith rather than letting him play out a cheap fifth-year option. Gibbs slots right behind him in the same tier, and both backs have every reason to be full participants well before the preseason opener since teams don't want their franchise investment getting hurt in garbage-time reps anyway.
Where this actually matters for your draft prep is reps and conditioning, not draft slot. Missing install time in a new-ish system is a bigger question for Robinson given Stefanski's scheme change than it is for Gibbs, who's running it back with a coordinator he already knows. If you're doing best-ball or an early best-of-the-best draft this week, don't panic-fade either name; check for actual practice participation reports closer to preseason Week 1 before you let a hold-in talk you into reaching for James Cook or Ashton Jeanty a round earlier than you'd planned.
The betting market angle is worth a glance too. Robinson is already the favorite for RB1 overall in season-long scoring, and nothing about a contract dispute over guaranteed money changes his workload projection once he signs. If sportsbooks move his rushing yardage or touchdown props at all here, it's noise, not signal, and sharp fantasy managers should treat it the same way. The follow-up to watch is simple: does either deal get signed before teams break camp, because a Robinson or Gibbs extension right before roster cutdowns would be the cleanest signal yet that both sides always intended to get this done quietly.