Kyren Williams
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Kyren Williams of the Los Angeles Rams runs the ball during the second quarter in the NFC Divisional Playoff at Lincoln Financial Field.
Kyren Williams has been one of the most effective running backs in the NFL for years, and he wants to get paid as such.
Still, the Los Angeles Rams RB said he feels good about the potential for him to re-sign with the team that chose him in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
“I would love for it to get done so I can take care of my family and the loved ones that helped me get here,” Williams told the Los Angeles Times. “I’ve always got trust in God. Whether it happens now or I play out the season, I know it’s going to happen eventually.
“I know with time it’s going to happen.”
Williams is extension eligible as he prepares to enter the final season of his four-year rookie contract. He rushed for 1,299 yards and had 15 rushing/receiving touchdowns in 2024 after posting a breakout 1,350-scrimage-yard, 15-touchdown campaign, in just 12 games, in 2023.
‘Bridging The Gap’
Rams general manager Les Snead told the reporters in March that he was hoping to get Williams locked into a long-term deal. The Athletic reported that both Snead and Williams’ agent Drew Rosenhaus exchanged their starting points, contract-wise.
“We all want this to work out,” Snead told The Athletic. “It’s just, ‘Can we agree upon a contract where … we feel like it’s a win-win?’ And if it doesn’t happen this year, it doesn’t mean that Kyren is not going to be a part (of) next year, doesn’t mean that we don’t do something a year from now.”
Snead added he hopes to “engineer a long-term partnership” with LA’s franchise running back.
But with Rosenhaus leading negotiations, and LA selecting both Blake Corum from Michigan and Auburn’s Jarquez Hunter in successive drafts, there are no guarantee Williams will remain with the Rams past 2025. Rams coach Sean McVay told the LA Times that “bridging the gap” financially is the biggest hurdle to a deal.
“We’ll see how far that we have to go with that but he is a very important part of what we want to be moving forward,” McVay told the newspaper. “He knows how much I love him, and so we’ll see if we can get something done.”
Running Back Market Shift
Things in the NFL are cyclical, and the pendulum is swinging back toward paying running backs.
Just last week, Derrick Henry signed a two-year, $30 million contract extension with the Ravens, after Saquon Barkley inked an NFL-record two-year, $41 million contract extension with the Philadelphia Eagles earlier this spring.
Rookie Ashton Jeanty is sandwiched between those two on the running-back payscale, since he is set to earn more than $9 million annually over four years for the Las Vegas Raiders without even taking an NFL snap.
So even though Williams’ new contract may not reset the market, he picked a good time to close in on free agency, especially since he has the NFL’s third-most rushing yards — behind only Henry and Barkley — since 2023.
Williams is sure the extension is coming. Until it does, he’s worrying about getting ready for the year ahead.
“Time will tell,” Williams said. “I just know I’ve got to do what I need to do each and every single day to make sure that it does happen in my favor.”