The inability of the NFL's top running backs to sign long-term contracts has been one of the biggest storylines of the last few months. Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs is holding out from training camp over frustrations with his contract, and Indianapolis Colts star Jonathan Taylor has requested a trade. It's a situation that former Pro Bowl running back Fred Taylor doesn't believe will be solved anytime soon.

Taylor thinks it will take a new collective bargaining agreement for the state of the running back position to improve. Unfortunately for the likes of Josh Jacobs and Saquon Barkley, the current NFL CBA doesn't expire until March 2030.

“The running back thing, it's a mess right now, and it's gonna that way until the next CBA comes about, I believe,” Fred Taylor said on “The Pat McAfee Show” Thursday. “It has to be done in black and white. There's not a whole lot they can do right now. Obviously, the teams have all of the leverage. And I think what it comes down to is, really what they think about you as a character person, as a talent on the field, what you do in the local community. I think all those things can contribute to you potentially getting the payday you deserve. Because if that doesn't apply, then what they're gonna say is, ‘potentially, you can be hurt next.'

“The process is: I get a guy early in the first round, we give him guaranteed money at 22 (years old), we exercise his fifth year. Now he's 27-28; tag him for a year, and then after that, he's 30, which is when they try to say that's your decline.”

Fred Taylor made almost $41 million from 1998-2010. He spent most of his career with the Jacksonville Jaguars before a stint with the New England Patriots.

Taylor made a career-high $4 million base salary in 2008. His salary from 15 years ago would rank ahead of most starting running backs for the 2023 NFL season.