The Los Angeles Rams flushed a bunch of running back money down the toilet Thursday. They cut Todd Gurley _ 2017 NFL Offensive Player of the Year, still just 25, perhaps suffering from a chronic knee injury _ and thereby incurred a "dead money" charge of anywhere from $11.75 million to $20 million.
Maybe the Rams learned their lesson. Maybe we all should: Don't spend big money on a back.
It took a while for me. Not long ago, I was in the "pay Le'Veon Bell" camp. Much as the Steelers tried, that would have been a mistake. Bell's tires are balding faster than, well, me.
The evidence overwhelmingly suggests you don't need a star running back to win the Super Bowl. You don't need a workhorse back. In some cases, you barely need a back at all.
Running-back-by-committee works, and the harsh truth is that passable backs _ guys you can win with _ are a dime a dozen. They can be found anywhere.
The Rams are a prime example. Gurley was injured late in 2018, but that did not block their run to the Super Bowl. They pulled a very large C.J. Anderson off a couch somewhere and watched him run for more than 400 yards in three games, including 123 in a playoff win over Dallas (Gurley added 115).
Of the past 12 Super Bowl champions, just three featured a 1,000-yard rusher _ and one of them was LeGarrette Blount. Another was Ray Rice, and he wound up sharing time with Bernard Pierce that year. The only team of recent vintage to win it all with a star workhorse back was Seattle with Marshawn Lynch in 2013.
Other than that, you see a James White here, a Corey Clement there, a Damien Williams here, a Ronnie Hillman there, a Mike Bell here, a Sony Michel there, a Brandon Jacobs here, a Brandon Jackson there. Blount was the leading rusher on consecutive Super Bowl winners, for goodness sake (2016 Patriots, '17 Eagles). The San Francisco 49ers were practically pulling guys out of the stands this year, and it didn't hurt their running game.
It's just a fact: You don't need a star running back. So why pay one?
Look at the five highest-paid running backs in the NFL, by annual salary, at least before Gurley was unceremoniously dumped:
_ Ezekiel Elliot ($15 million): Still very good, but what has Dallas won with him, other than a single playoff game?
_ Gurley ($14.375 million): One day you're the Offensive Player of the Year, the next you're quoting the legendary movie "Friday" and tweeting, "Damn, I got fired on my day off."
_ Bell ($13.125 million): An epic disaster so far in New York.
_ David Johnson ($13 million): Injured shortly after he signed his big deal, now traded.
_ Derrick Henry ($10.2 million): The Titans were wise to slap a franchise tag on him. They wouldn't be wise to turn that into a long-term deal.
Look what happened to Devonta Freeman. In August of 2017, he signed a five-year, $41.25 million extension with the Falcons. Soon enough, he was injured, now released.
The Rams made Gurley the highest-paid back in NFL history before the 2018 season _ awarding him a four-year, $60 million extension that included $45 million in guarantees. He still had two years left on his rookie deal. He was never the same after 2017, struggling through what appears to be a chronic knee injury.
It's sad, actually, to consider the plight of running backs. Their careers are shorter than the average player, they have been devalued in the draft and are paid less on average than nearly every other position.
It's clear that NFL teams, for the most part, have learned their lesson. Which is to say, don't pay.
The smart play is to use a good running back's mileage on his rookie deal, then look elsewhere. Or just look elsewhere.
There was talk last summer of running backs forming their own union, separate from the NFLPA. If that happens, the group should focus on getting players to the NFL before three years post-high school. That rule beats up backs more than any other position _ and yet, a bunch of excellent NFL running back prospects surprisingly will forego the draft and head back to school next year.
Maybe they figure the NFL doesn't want them that badly.
And maybe they're right.
