Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson agreed to a three-year contract extension on Tuesday, August 4, the team announced. The deal guarantees him $51 million, the most guaranteed money in any contract given to an NFL running back, and keeps him in Atlanta through 2030.
The extension has a base value of $66.75 million, an average of $22.25 million a year, and rises to as much as $75 million — $25 million a year — if Robinson hits its incentives. He receives $37 million at signing. Either way it makes him the highest-paid running back in the league by average annual value, passing Philadelphia's Saquon Barkley at $20.6 million. The agreement ends the hold-in Robinson had been staging at training camp. ESPN reported the terms.
Robinson led the NFL in scrimmage yards last season with 2,298 — 1,478 rushing and 820 receiving on 366 touches — which set a Falcons franchise record and stands as the 12th-highest single-season total in league history. His 6.3 yards per touch is tied for the fifth-best mark ever in a 2,000-yard scrimmage season.
Across his first three seasons he has 5,648 scrimmage yards, more than any other player in the NFL over that span. He has run for 3,910 yards and 25 touchdowns on 805 carries and caught 198 passes for 1,738 yards and nine scores; the receiving total is the most by any running back since 2023. His 34 total touchdowns over the three years are tied for the ninth-most in the league. He has made two Pro Bowls and has been named both first- and second-team All-Pro.
"To keep playing with these guys and this organization. This is one of my dreams, to stay with one team," Robinson said. General manager Ian Cunningham called him "a dynamic playmaker whose production and impact on the field speak for themselves," and head coach Kevin Stefanski said there is "no shortage in what he can do for the football team on the field."
Robinson was the No. 8 overall pick in the 2023 draft out of Texas, taken by a front office that has since turned over: Atlanta fired head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot in January after an eighth straight losing season, then hired Matt Ryan as president of football operations.
It was the second NFL contract record set on August 4. Chicago right tackle Darnell Wright agreed to a four-year, $116 million extension the same day, with $93 million guaranteed — the most ever for an offensive lineman. Read the full terms of Wright’s Bears extension.
A day later the same 2023 draft class produced a third extension: Baltimore wide receiver Zay Flowers signed for four years and $140 million with $108 million guaranteed, tying Justin Jefferson for fourth among NFL receivers at $35 million a year.
Robinson held the top of the running back market for one day: on August 6, Jahmyr Gibbs signed a three-year, $67.5 million Lions extension worth $22.5 million a year.
Source: Atlanta Falcons
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