Stephen Dubner

That's an NFL rule that allows a team to keep a good player for one year at a relatively high salary rather than letting him become a free agent and pursue a longer term deal.

While the Giants had Barkley on this one-year hold, they gave their quarterback, Daniel Jones, a four-year contract averaging $40 million a year.

When Barkley became a free agent, he left the Giants and signed a three-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles for about $12 million a year, so less than a third of what Daniel Jones was being paid.

And how did Jones and Barkley do the following year?

Barkley had one of the best seasons an NFL running back has ever had, and his Eagles won the Super Bowl.

Daniel Jones played so badly that the Giants benched him and then released him.

Like LaShawn McCoy asked, how is that fair?

Well, fair may not be the right word.

The real issue is value.

The value of a running play versus the value of a passing play.

So, Brian, the reason I was really eager to speak with you is that Roland wrote this piece in the Wall Street Journal about the decline of running back salaries.

And I've been told that if we had to point to one person in the universe who

who is perhaps most responsible for that decline, it might be you.

Do you want to claim that credit or blame?

Now, football stats were only a hobby at the time because you were a U.S.

Navy pilot, correct?

In what ways would you say that your military background contributed to the way that you frame the questions you're trying to answer in football?

So in a war-like setting, when you're trying to advance into enemy territory, which weapon is more valuable, the ground game or the passing game?

Brian Burke's analytic approach allowed him to answer that question.

Let's back up a bit.