NFL RB trends: Did the LA Rams start this fire?

There is a raging fire burning in the NFL right now, and the question that I cannot help asking myself is: Did the LA Rams start this fire? I mean, the LA Rams won Super Bowl LVI without the presence of a strong running attack. And it was clear that after the Rams won, several NFL teams adopted their trade picks for players strategy.

We Didn't Start the Fire is a song title of a popular song written and sung by the artist Billy Joel in 1989 and was a song featured on his 11th album Storm Front. It describes the challenges of the world's problems (from the late 1980s at least) and poses the rebuttal that the solutions are not happening because there will always be some new hotspring of controversy springing up in the world.

And so, the song talks about a time that occured before many who now read this article were born. So why include it?

NFL News: Running backs devalued

Well, the recent economics of the NFL have been skewing further and further out of control, if you are playing at a running back position. And that leads to a discussion of how did we get here, and will there be a win-win solution for both NFL teams and players who are NFL running backs?

The Rams' own free agent placekicker, Matt Gay, signed a fourt-year contract with the Indianapolis Colts for $22,500,000. For the record, that is more per year than the team is paying running back Jonathan Taylor. Right now, that is what has made the NFL such a battleground for running backs.

As of today, the two keystone negotiations for running backs and NFL teams are on the shoulders of RB Saquan Bakley and his negotiations with the New York Giants, Josh Jacobs, and his negotiations with the Las Vegas Raiders.

It's quite clear that the current LA Rams roster is not contributing to the problem. While the Rams do not have any running backs earning more than the $1.9 million due to running back Cam Akers, the team is only paying kicker Tanner Brown a minimal $751,000.

The Rams witnessed the New England Patriots offensive strategy in Super Bowl LIII, a passing offense that did not depend on a running attack to win games. The Rams then perfected that strategy and deployed it in Super Bowl LVI.

But, as NFL teams try to hold the line on paying their rushers, have the Rams had a change of heart? It was the Rams that entered the bidding war for Carolina Panthers' running back Christian McCaffrey. It's the Rams who drafted running back Zach Evans, and then signed free agent Sony Michel.

Are the Rams ahead of the curve? As defenses get lighter and swifter, are the Rams commiting to a power running attack and multiple runners to get the job done on offense? This could be a developing trend, so stay tuned.