Now that the Bills have locked down a contract extension for quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, running back Fred Jackson appears on the list. Jackson has been one of the top running backs in the league this season, and is due a new contract to reward his performance.
It was revealed today that a Jackson had a meeting with Bills GM Buddy Nix, and Jackson walked away from the meeting confident that they would get a new deal done.
“It was probably around three weeks ago,” said Jackson. “I just went in, just to talk to him. He let me know that he was thinking about me, but they just had some other stuff that they had to take care of first. I’ve got a lot of faith in him and that’s what I’ll continue to do. Just put my faith in him and see what happens.”
Jackson is under contract through next season and scheduled to make $1.75 million total in 2011, and $1.83 million for 2012. He is performing as one of the top 2-3 backs in the league right now, and deserves to be paid accordingly.
Jackson has 721 yards rushing through 7 games, averaging 5.5 yards per carry, plus 353 receiving yards. He has had five 100-yard games in their seven games so far this season. He is on pace to break the franchise record for yards from scrimmage held by O.J. Simpson, and isn’t far off the NFL record. His current pace would give him 2,455 yards and the NFL record is 2,509 by Chris Johnson.
Much has been made in the press this season about Chicago’s Matt Forte – both his on-field performance and his contract re-negotiations as well. Their stat lines are almost identical. Forte has a total of 1,091 yards from scrimmage this season and Jackson has 1,074. Forte has 162 touches to 159 for Jackson.
Both backs are performing at an elite level and are certainly within the top 5 running backs in the league. Both also deserve to be rewarded with a new contract. We’ll have to see who wins the yards-from-scrimmage battle, and who wins their contract battle first.
