Tuesday Afternoon Open Thread: Should NFL Running Backs Hold Out Or Honor Their Contracts?

In the NFL, running backs not only inflict pain upon their defenders with their powerful running styles, but they are subjected to a lot of pain as well. Runners go down all the time with significant head, knee and other types of injuries. The amount of physical pain that they are introduced to is overwhelming.

But should that pain stop a player from playing out the contract they signed? Maurice Jones-Drew may not think so. He is considering holding out to get a new long-term deal with the Jaguars. The Jags, however, feel that he should play out the last two years of his current deal before attempting to renegotiate.

We have seen many players of MJD's caliber do this over the years. Most recently, Chris Johnson did it to the Titans. This has always been an occurrence in the league. Remember when Emmitt Smith held out back in the early 90's? He ended up receiving a huge payday from Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys.

So the question of the day is this: Should NFL running backs honor their contracts or are they justified in holding out? Keep in mind, running backs do not last as long as a wide receiver or quarterback in this league, so for them to want to get paid as soon as possible does make sense. Then again, they did sign a contract, so should they play all the way through it before asking for more money?

What are your thoughts? Tell us in the comments section.