Life as a running back in the NFL can be as good as it gets when you're at the top of your game. However, if you aren't in the position of, say, Saquon Barkley, then your career could feel more like an episode of Survivor than anything else.
Whether it is the right approach or not, running backs are not valued as highly as their peers within the NFL. While this is due to the large amount of punishment they are expected to take week in and week out, it has made holding down a career at that position even more difficult than others.
One former member of the New England Patriots is learning this lesson in real-time as he's searching for his next home in the NFL with training camp on the horizon for the league.
Former Patriots RB JaMycal Hasty Still Unemployed as Camp Begins
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Once the Patriots selected former Ohio State Buckeyes running back TreVeyon Henderson with the No. 38 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, it was clear that he would be, at the least, the primary backup this coming season. With Antonio Gibson still on the roster as well, there were no opportunities for veteran rusher JaMycal Hasty, and his two-year run in New England was officially over.
Now, Hasty is still unemployed and looking for his next opportunity in the NFL, and time is running out for that to happen as training camps across the league open in the coming weeks. This is another reminder of how brutal the life of an NFL running back can be, as Hasty went from appearing in 15 games for the Patriots this past season to being unemployed.
Over the course of his five-year NFL career, Hasty also had stops with the Jacksonville Jaguars and San Francisco 49ers before coming to New England. Even though he was never a featured back, Hasty has shown he can return kicks and catch passes out of the backfield so there is more to him than just rushing the ball.
Whether that is enough to find him a new job anytime soon, however, is anyone's guess.
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