49ers news: Christian McCaffrey wants RBs to earn more, Niners have most Spencers in NFL

Want some interesting 49ers news for Monday before the start of training camp? Here you go!

Happy last Monday of the calendar year before the San Francisco 49ers are back on the field each week from now until January (hopefully February).

Training camp starts this week, and head coach Kyle Shanahan will be tasked with the arduous job of both getting his squad ready for the upcoming season while also whittling down the 90-man offseason roster to 53 players.

There will inevitably be plenty of talk about quarterbacks, but let's go ahead and kick off our Monday morning news corner with news about a running back.

San Francisco's own Christian McCaffrey, that is.

49ers' Christian McCaffrey joins other running backs in voicing displeasure over positional devaluation

For fans following the pro game closely, it's not hard to realize that running backs are short-value commodities. The days of Frank Gore, Adrian Peterson Marshall Faulk or LaDanian Tomlinson being the workhorses of their respective teams' offenses are a different era of football.

With more and more teams focusing on the pass game, running backs have been devalued, both in terms of being drafted and getting financial compensation.

The latest scuffle over this involved ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller and running back Austin Ekeler of the Los Angeles Chargers:

McCaffrey also weighed in on the current situation and issue by criticizing the process in which running backs Josh Jacobs, Tony Pollard and Saquon Barkley all got slapped with the franchise tag by their respective teams and weren't able to engineer a long-term deal.

Furthermore, as organized by Ekeler, McCaffrey was one such star running back who joined in on a Zoom meeting recently to try and address the devaluation of running backs, as reported by ESPN:

"Several star NFL running backs took part in a Zoom call Saturday to discuss the depressed market for players at their position.

Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb confirmed Sunday he participated in the call and said Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry and Christian McCaffrey also were in the meeting. Josh Jacobs also took part, a source told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler."

ESPN also pointed out McCaffrey got his big contract prior to joining the Niners via last season's blockbuster trade with the Carolina Panthers, the team that originally drafted him in 2017. His deal averages more than $16 million per season, yet McCaffrey isn't shy about throwing his weight around for his fellow position mates.

49ers have the most players in the NFL named Spencer

If you haven't read Kyle Madson over at Niners Wire, get into the habit of it. For starters, his analysis of San Francisco's best bye weeks in team history (yes, he wrote that with legit analysis) is awesome.

Madson is back with another piece of unique evidence that you probably didn't know until you read the above title.

No other team has more Spencers than the 49ers.

Right guard Spencer Burford and defensive lineman Spener Waege make up the only duo of Spencers on an NFL roster, although Madson did point out the New York Jets have two players with the last name of Spencer, defensive lineman Marquiss Spencer and wide receiver Diontae Spencer.

Seriously, you learn something new every day.

49ers training camp starts this week

The Niners begin training camp on Tuesday, July 25. Practices officially begin on Wednesday, July 26.

Fans can attend if they've purchased very affordable tickets, and all practice sessions will be held at the SAP Performance Facility directly to the east of Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

Read more: Can fans attend 49ers training camp? Yes, they can (and here's how)

San Francisco opens up its 2023 preseason campaign with a road matchup against quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, Aug. 13 at Allegiant Stadium.

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