News broke this Wednesday that the Buffalo Bills had agreed to terms on a one year contract extension with veteran running back Fred Jackson. A relatively simple deal, the extension added one year to Jacksons current contract, which was set to expire after this season. In dollar terms, Jackson is set to make $2.6 million in 2015; however, the key point here is that none of this money is guaranteed.
On the surface, the extension initially raised a few eyebrows. At age 33, Jackson is the leagues oldest running back, so it is fair to wonder why the Bills would even entertain giving Jackson new money when their running back stable already includes C.J. Spiller, Anthony Dixon, and newly acquired Bryce Brown. However, as someone who has closely followed Jacksons career with the Bills, this deal makes perfect sense. From age 26-30, Fredex only accumulated 817 carries, or an average of 163 carries per season. Definitely a late bloomer, Jackson still enters his age 33 season with fewer career carries (1138) than the likes of Steven Jackson (2552), Matt Forte (1551), Maurice Jones-Drew (1804), Reggie Bush (1190) and Adrian Peterson (2033). In fact, Jackson only has 95 more career carries than Jamaal Charles, who experts generally consider one of the top running backs in the NFL.
