Predicting What De'Von Achane's Extension Could Look Like

The Miami Dolphins will have a difficult decision to make about one of their best players’ contract pretty soon. 

Running back De’Von Achane’s contract is up after the 2026 season, which means he’ll likely be seeking an extension this coming offseason. Achane is playing on his rookie deal, which will count toward just $1.7 million against the cap in 2026, according to Over The Cap. 

Achane is clearly a much better player than that and likely will be seeking a large raise sooner rather than later. For the Dolphins, paying Achane is a complicated question that will depend a lot on the offseason changes made at GM and any potential ones at head coach. 

The Dolphins do have Achane under contract for 2026 and also could put the franchise tag on him in 2027 if they wanted to go in that direction, but they might decide he's a player worth an extension and there's also no guarantee that Achane wouldn't hold in to get a new deal.

At this time, we'll assume the Dolphins want to sign Achane to an extension. What could that deal look like? Let’s dive in. 

Where Achane Ranks Among NFL RBs?

Before finding a good contract for Achane, it’s important to sort out where he ranks in the NFL’s running back hierarchy. 

It’s fair to assume that most analysts would have some combination of Jonathan Taylor, Derrick Henry, Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley and Bijan Robinson as the top four running backs in the league. 

Achane doesn’t have the pedigree of those players yet, so it’s fair to slot him behind that group. After that, it’s fair to start talking about Achane. 

The next group consists of players like Jahmyr Gibbs, Josh Jacobs, James Cook, Alvin Kamara, Kyren Williams, Aaron Jones and James Conner. 

Achane is certainly competing, if not beating, those guys in most major categories. He’s fourth in rushing yards (780), tied for second in yards per attempt (5.5), and tied for 11th in touchdowns (5). 

Plus, Achane has also contributed 49 catches for 325 yards this season. That puts him second among running backs in catches and third in yards. Even some of Achane’s more niche stats put him near the top of the league. 

He might not be in the top five, but he’s probably somewhere in the next tier, which is occupied by other younger studs like Gibbs, Jacobs and Cook. That firmly puts Achane in the top 10, and given his age (24), there’s a reason to believe he could climb into the top five before the rigors of the position catch up with him. 

What Does a Potential Achane Extension Look Like? 

Now that we’ve roughly established Achane’s place among the league’s backs, we can start to build a possible extension. 

At most positions, a young, productive player like Achane would come close to resetting the market. However, running back is a whole different beast. Teams don’t like to pay running backs, as there’s only one — Barkley — making at least $20 million average annual value. 

The only non-special teams position with fewer players making at least $20 million AAV are tight end and center, which have none. 

So, we’ve got a rare case where a 24-year-old budding star likely won’t push into the top three of AAV at the position. A good benchmark deal to look at is the one Cook signed with the Bills this offseason. 

Cook got a four-year, $46 million extension with $30 million in total guarantees. That puts him at seventh in AAV ($11.5 million) and third in total guarantees, according to OTC. The weird part about Cook’s contract is that he has a lot of non-guaranteed money baked into it. 

He’s second in total contract value ($46 million), which makes it a pretty team-friendly deal for the Bills. Essentially, Cook took a slight discount to raise his guarantees. 

Achane will likely try to do better, and we think there’s some room for both sides. Achane is younger than Cook, but he’s also been less productive as a runner. 

Four years feels like the right length for both sides. That would make Achane eligible for free agency again before he hits 30, but he’ll likely push for more fully guaranteed money and AAV. 

Taylor is fourth among RBs in AAV at $14 million, and we don’t think Achane will get that from Miami. However, something in the $12-12.5 million range would put Achane behind Taylor, ahead of Cook, and in the same bracket as Kamara and Jacobs.

However, you also have to account for the salary cap increase. We don’t know what that is yet, but it’s probably safe to add another $200,000 to Achane’s AAV based on historical increases. That means his AAV will likely net out closer to $12.5 million than $12 million. 

So, that puts his potential deal at four years for somewhere between $48.8 and $50.8 million. That would push Achane’s deal near the top of total value, but it would keep his AAV somewhere in the 6-7 range. 

Of course, all of this is highly speculative. So much will change this offseason for Miami, and it’s important to remember that the running back franchise tag is just $13.6 million, the lowest among all non-special teams positions. 

This will be one of the most interesting decisions the team’s new general manager will need to make this offseason.