Obviously, every NFL player should be playing like his career depends on his production, and more obviously, fantasy owners want players on their rosters who are hungry and have something to prove. Here are the running backs in FantasyPros.com‘s Top 80 by current average draft position who are in “contract years,” meaning that every player listed here in yellow is scheduled to hit free agency in 2016, and has the 2015 season ahead to put on a show for both their current employers as well as the pro-scouting departments of other teams. Players listed here in green are players who “just got paid,” meaning that they were in contract years last season OR were signed at some point during the 2015 offseason to new deals of at least three years OR $9 million in total value.

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Different players handle getting paid in different ways – obviously. While some could see Justin Forsett getting a big new contract as a reason to rest on his laurels and collect checks, others will say that he’ll have a big year to pay off the team’s faith in him. The only thing we know for sure when analyzing the financial and contractual situations of prospective members of our fantasy squads is that players in contract years have the most urgent need to produce in order to sustain their careers.