Cardinals GM Points to Economics for RB Market Issues

In a bit of a surprise this week, Arizona Cardinals reporters had the privilege of speaking with general manager Monti Ossenfort during training camp.

It's not often the GM speaks during this time of year, and Ossenfort himself is certainly busy as the team will eventually have to trim their roster down to a whopping 53 players before the regular season.

So it was fairly nice to hear Ossenfort's views on different things not only concerning the team, but also issues that span across the league during his 15 minute press conference this week.

The last question came for his opinion on the running back market:

Reporter: "What are your views on the running back position?"

Ossenfort: "That's certainly a hot button issue around the league. I think as we go through this, there's gonna be ebbs and flows every year of how the league is operating. It's grown to be a passing league but I've been on teams that have been run heavy.

"I've been on teams with New England and Tennessee that have been run heavy. I've been on teams in New England that have been pass heavy. I think there's ebbs and flows and as it pertains to the running back position, I think it's a market. It goes back to my economics days - there's supply and demand and how high things are valued.

"Unfortunately it's a market that the running backs are on the downslide here but it's hard to say what's going to happen, I can't predict the future of how that goes. Right now they're battling through some things, but the running back's a valuable position on the team just like multiple other positions. It's an interesting one and different teams are gonna make different decisions as they go.

"So I don't have a great answer for you other than we just got to survey the league and see how things are going and we'll have to make our decisions as it pertains to us, just [do] the best thing for our team and can't really worry about what's going on around the rest of the league."

After backs such as Josh Jacobs and Saquon Barkley failed to reach an agreement with their teams at the franchise tag deadline, an uproar across the league was seen. Star backs met via zoom to discuss what they could potentially do to help preserve their position as some of the biggest names are still hanging around in free agency.

It will be interesting to see if anything within the next CBA changes, though it's hard to imagine the NFLPA and owners meeting in the middle on this topic.

When it comes to the economics comment - that's true. Teams have shown you don't need to push hefty money into the running back position (let alone one star runner) to have success in this league.

Click This Link to Subscribe to All Cardinals on YouTube

Click This Link to Follow All Cardinals on Facebook

Arizona Cardinals Top Stories

Paris Johnson Looks to Set Standard for Cardinals

Budda Baker Appears to Avoid Serious Injury

Two Rookies Have Impressed During Cardinals Camp

How You Can Watch, Listen to Preseason Games