The problem that I'd imagine is a variation of "Why does Sales get paid so much?". Basically, the more obvious the connection between your contribution and the company making more money, the easier it is to reward you with a slice of the pie.

In a codified "trailblazers and firefighters" model, the trailblazers are much more obviously tied to the company's bottom line. Feature X is required to close deal with company Y, this software team built this feature. Meanwhile, the people frantically cleaning up the mess the first team left is only nebulously connected to the company raking in more cash, relegating them to a second-tier position despite having harder work.