Why Walter Payton Wouldn't Be a Megastar in NFL Today

Even Walter Payton couldn't have flourished in an age when the NFL puts a complete emphasis on passing and pays contracts accordingly

If Walter Payton played today, he'd start out with the Bears for a few years and then would be playing with the Jets or the Rams or some other team in another part of the country.

He'd play not 13 years, but maybe about eight or nine years if he was fortunate, and then be discarded to the broadcast booth or some other athletic trash heap.

This is no slam on Payton's abilities, it's just the way the game has evolved with offensive approaches, the rules, the direction the league been pointed by owners, the way players themselves have negotiated their collective bargaining agreements and finally the way the fans want it.

All are contributing factors to a league where running backs have little value.

Running backs are unwanted after three or four years, sometimes less. 

Jordan Howard was a perfect example in Chicago. He could go on now to stand out for a few years in Miami. He probably never would have in Philadelphia, where they seem to bring in a whole new group of running backs every year. This is a running back who went over 1,100 yards his first two years in the league and hasn't had a major crippling injury.

Bears coach Matt Nagy values running backs no more than the Eagles.

It's why David Montgomery needs to make the most of these next few years in the league.

It's not all scheme on the field. Some coaches like the idea of running backs by committee. Many prefer this, and it makes development of star backs, players at the top of the totem pole, completely impossible.

They've turned running backs into drones, much the way people used to think of offensive linemen. The San Francisco 49ers are a good example of this with the way they could simply insert any one of three backs and get similar production.

None of this is new or earth shattering, but the cold reality of dollar figures will show just how slanted against running backs it's all become.

There are five running backs in the league averaging more than $10 million according to Spotrac.com. The fifth is Derrick Henry, who just experienced a season and postseason unlike most backs will ever achieve in today's NFL offensive climate. 

Henry couldn't even get a contract extension and was tagged, so he's making $10.278 million this year.

The others in the group are Christian McCaffrey ($16.015 million), Ezekiel Elliott ($15 million), Le'Veon Bell ($13.125 million) and David Johnson ($13 million).

There are 19 quarterbacks making at least $10 million per year and there are 24 wide receivers making at least $10 million. There are 10 wide receivers making more than McCaffrey.

And McCaffrey is valued so much not only because of his running, but because he's a vital part of the passing game as a receiver.

There have been 73 contract extensions doled out for this season according to Spotrac.com. Three went to running backs.

When Payton played, he used to hand the ball to his offensive linemen to spike partly because they rarely received notoriety and also because they helped make the touchdowns possible. Today he might just spike it himself. There are 44 offensive linemen making at least $10 million per year and four making more than McCaffrey.

The only offensive position valued lower by NFL teams than running backs are tight ends. Only two make more than $10 million, but their skill set is viewed as easily replaced, by everyone except the Bears it seems. 

The combination of great speed, agility and athletic ability wide receivers have is coveted much more than tight ends' skills.

It is a passing game and has been for a while, so running backs have lost value. Unless something changes to the rules or way offenses attack, it wouldn't even be surprising in 10 or 15 years to see running backs go in the direction of fullbacks and be used only by a few teams.

Payton received a contract after eight years in the league unlike any other at the time. It included a lifetime annuity of $240,000. Today, he'd be hoping to stick with some team for 100 carries or so in his eighth season. 

In the 1990s I collaborated on a weekly column with Payton for a now-defunct news group, this occurring in the final years of his life. Payton once said he definitely would have never been as effective a runner in the late 1990s game as in the 1970s and 80s.

"I couldn't even play the game today," Payton said, somewhat in jest but making his point nonetheless.

His point had nothing to do with the diminished importance of backs in offenses. He was talking about how big defensive linemen had become, and players in general through better weight training or illegal methods.

Payton was right in a way, it seems, but not for the reason he said. Payton's skills transcended all generations of football and someone of his talents could always play.

He'd just play for a few years in one city, a few in another and be done like any other disposable running back in the industrial passing game complex the NFL has become.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven