Rams strike a bold deal with one of their most underrated offensive weapons just in time for the 2025 season
Despite elite production, no one talks about this key Rams weapon among the best at his position. Maybe a raise will help.
The Los Angeles Rams have stuck the landing. Los Angeles has enjoyed a hyper-productive stretch of play from running back Kyren Williams over the last two seasons, making him one of the more effective running backs in all of football despite his lack of ideal size or explosiveness at the position.
Williams has a clear and obvious role to play in Los Angeles as the tough foil in the backfield to Sean McVay‘s potent passing attack. And now we know that he’ll be in Los Angeles to stay for the foreseeable future. Per reports, the Rams and Williams have agreed to terms on a three-year contract extension today.
Kyren Williams agrees to terms on a three-year, $33 million contract extension with Rams
The speculation about Williams’ long-term status with the Rams was rooted in two things:
1. His positional value at the running back position
2. The Rams’ decision to invest multiple mid-round draft choices at running back in the last two years
As it turns out, neither was a deterrent for general manager Les Snead and the Rams from agreeing to a fair market value for Williams. Williams, who was a fifth-round draft choice by Los Angeles in 2022 out of Notre Dame and was scheduled to play the final year of his rookie contract for $5.3 million in compensation after performance adjustments, ranks third in the NFL in rushing yards (2,443 yards) and fourth in rushing touchdowns (26) since the start of the 2023 season.
Now, he’ll stay in Los Angeles through the end of the 2028 season thanks to three new years being stacked on top of his 2025 commitment.
Williams has very good passing down chops as well, boasting sharp pass protection ability that would surprise any observer who simply judges his play by his stature. It’s the combination of consistent yardage and vision, pass protection ability, and durability that give Williams his value to the Rams and made an extension a sensible move for Los Angeles.
The lack of explosive plays and fumbles have been the two warts on the resume. Williams is tied with Rhamondre Stevenson and Breece Hall for the most fumbles since the start of 2023 (seven fumbles, four lost) and Los Angeles finished the 2024 season with just three rushes of 20 yards on the season. Only five teams in the last two decades had less in a single season.
But the good far and away outweighs the bad. Williams’ $11 million annual average will slot him seventh among NFL running backs, sandwiched between Josh Jacobs in Green Bay ($12 million AAV) and Aaron Jones in Minnesota ($10 million AAV). His reported $23 million in guarantees should rank sixth among running back contracts. So the commitment here is indeed a handsome one by running back standards.
With Williams now under lock and key for the next several years, the Rams can shift their focus to finding the right balance in their backfield and allow Williams to be the primary snap taker and tone setter for the running game. He’s proven he can handle heavy workloads, so the weight of responsibility that comes with an extension should be light work in the years ahead.