Getty Image / Jonathan Bachman
Earlier this offseason, the Baltimore Ravens settled one of the NFL’s most noteworthy contract standoffs that had dragged on more than a year when they finally agreed to a contract extension with Lamar Jackson.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of their issues for the offseason.
They have another player currently looking to get themselves a new contract and that player has been absent from training camp.
The player looking for a new deal is running back JK Dobbins, who is expected to be the team’s starter during the coming season.
Today, John Harbaugh was asked when Dobbins’ absence become a concern and he revealed that he doesn’t know when Dobbins will return.
With JK Dobbins not practicing for a week now, John Harbaugh was asked when that becomes a concern.
"I don't know. It's a fair question. And there is a point in time when it does become a concern because – and he knows – JK and I talked last night. We talk a lot. He wants to be…
— Sarah Ellison (@sgellison) August 2, 2023
“I don’t know. It’s a fair question,” Harbaugh said, via Sarah Ellison of Ravens Vault. “And there is a point in time when it does become a concern because – and he knows – J.K. and I talked last night. We talk a lot. He wants to be out there, and he needs to be out there, just like any player does. Other than that, there’s nothing else that I can really add because I don’t know when he’s going to come back, but I know I’m going to be really happy when he does.”
At a time when running backs across the league are struggling to get big contracts, Dobbins is in a particularly bad position to try to negotiate one for himself.
In his first 3 NFL seasons, Dobbins has missed more games than he has played, appearing in just 23 games so far.
He has been pretty good when he has been on the field, with a career average of 5.9 yards per carry, but he has yet to put together a full season that was particularly impressive. His career high for yards in a single season is currently 805.
It’s not surprising that JK Dobbins wants a future commitment from the Baltimore Ravens given his injury history, but he’ll unfortunately need to prove that he can stay healthy before anybody is going to want to make a significant commitment to him.