The Las Vegas Raiders took running back Ashton Jeanty with the sixth overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft this past April. Jeanty will be the new starting running back for the Silver and Black next season, and the Raiders are looking to have a good rushing attack with him.
The new regime of head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Spytek liked the first pick they made as members of the Raiders organization.
Carroll and Spytek knew that they had to address the running back position this offseason, and they did it by taking Jeanty. Jeanty was the right pick for the team and was the best running back in college last season. Now the offense will look to take the next step of being one of the best in the National Football League, and Jeanty will look to be a big part of it.
The Raiders signed Jeanty to a four year contract for nearly $36 million, and it was fully guaranteed.
Dan Graziano of ESPN sees this contract as a player friendly one.
"Right now, there is exactly one running back in the league whose contract contains more fully guaranteed money than Jeanty's deal: Barkley. Jeanty's average annual salary of $8,973,953 also ranks 11th among all NFL running backs. He has not yet carried the ball once in an NFL game, and yet only 10 players at his position make more money than him," he said.
"Rookie deals are player-friendly because they're fully guaranteed, but the position value makes a running back picked in the top 10 look as if he hit the lottery. Quarterback Cameron Ward, the No. 1 pick in this year's draft, will make about $12.2 million per year on his rookie deal, which ranks 23rd among quarterbacks at the moment. Mason Graham, the defensive tackle taken one spot before Jeanty, will make about $10.2 million per year, which ranks 30th among defensive tackles.
"Jeanty might be a fine player for the Raiders. He might even be an outstanding one. But a rookie running back deal for a player who's the No. 6 pick offers no value whatsoever to the team and is something like free money for the player. From the Raiders' standpoint, the best-case scenario is that Jeanty plays like a top-11 running back in the league for three or four years while earning top-11 running back money and then they end up having to pay him even more."
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