Kyren Williams agrees to a three-year contract extension with the Rams
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Kyren Williams spent Tuesday morning meeting with his agent and the Rams to work out the final details of a contract extension.
The Rams running back finished the day dashing, darting and diving on the field during a joint practice with the Dallas Cowboys.
“Life is good,” Williams said after the workout. “Life is good.”
It’s certainly richer.
Williams, a fourth-year pro, received a three-year extension. Terms of the deal were not announced but Williams is guaranteed about $23 million, a person with knowledge of the situation said. The person requested anonymity because the contract has not been processed.
“It feels amazing,” Williams said. “This whole day is kind of surreal. … It means a whole lot that this organization believes in me, and I’m going to continue to keep giving them everything that I have in my soul to make sure that they know that.”
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Williams’ extension is the first by the Rams for a running back since they gave Todd Gurley a then-record $45-million deal in 2018.
“He is a great representation of a guy that represents and epitomizes everything that we want to be about,” coach Sean McVay said of Williams.
Williams, a 2022 fifth-round draft pick from Notre Dame, was scheduled to earn $5.4 million in the final season of his rookie contract, according to Overthecap.com.
The Rams and Williams’ agent, Drew Rosenhaus, had been negotiating since the end of the 2024 season. General manager Les Snead said then the Rams would “definitely like to engineer a long-term partnership” with Williams.
But progress was slow.
Regardless of Williams’ value to them, with huge extensions for players such as receiver Puka Nacua, defensive lineman Kobie Turner and edge rusher Jared Verse expected to be awarded in the next few years, the Rams were not going to overpay for a running back.
The question was whether Williams would agree to terms, or play out the final year of his rookie contract and test the free-agent market.
Ram running back Kyren Williams is entering the final season of his rookie contract and is eligible for an extension but the two sides have not come to an agreement.
On Tuesday, with the agreement in hand, Williams thanked “the Lord, and everybody who made this possible.”
“Just for believing in me, allowing me to be able to live out my dream, be able to take care of my family,” Williams said, “and continue to keep playing ball and continue to keep loving this game like I always have, since I was child.”
Williams, who will turn 25 on Aug. 26, said several times during the offseason that the Rams were the only team for which he wanted to play.
Despite not having a deal in place, he reported to training camp and was a full participant in drills.
“I do this not for the money, fame, or popularity but to take care of my family,” Williams said when he reported. “For me, it’s a lot bigger than the contract negotiations, it’s putting my feet on the ground and continuing to get better, continuing to keep being who I am as a person, as a player, as an athlete, as a teammate, and as a brother.”
During camp, Rosenhaus met with Rams executive Matthew Shearin, but no deal was reached.
Williams said that a few days ago, a meeting between him, Rosenhaus, McVay and Shearin was scheduled for Tuesday morning in McVay’s office.
With Matthew Stafford still working through his back injury, the Rams quarterback will not take part in a joint practice session with the Dallas Cowboys.
So when they met, “I kind of knew [Tuesday] might have been the day” for a deal to get done, Williams said.
“We gave them the things that we wanted and … they came back to me and, man, I couldn’t believe what they said,” Williams said. “Honestly, I wasn’t expecting them to say yes, but when they did you should have seen me in the room.
“I dropped my hands in my face and I just started thanking the Lord.”
Said McVay: “These things can be challenging. They can be emotional, and there are a lot of things that are involved in this. But it never got that way. It was always very collaborative.”
Williams, a 2023 Pro Bowl selection, rushed for more than 1,100 yards in each of the last two seasons. In 2023, he scored 15 touchdowns. Last season, he scored 16 as the Rams advanced to the NFC divisional round before losing to the eventual Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Williams is an integral part of an offense that features quarterback Matthew Stafford, receiver Davante Adams and Nacua. With a defense led by Turner and Verse, the Rams will be regarded as a Super Bowl contender if the back issue that sidelined Stafford for training camp does not adversely affect his play.
Rams third quarterback Stetson Bennett is seeing plenty of reps with Matthew Stafford out, and coach Sean McVay has noticed a change in Bennett.
Williams leads a running back corps that includes second-year pro Blake Corum, veteran Ronnie Rivers and rookie Jarquez Hunter, a fourth-round pick from Auburn.
Throughout the offseason and training camp, Williams never wavered in his confidence that a deal with the Rams would get done.
And now it has.
“The best part about it is, he’ll just continue to do what he’s done,” McVay said. “He’s like, ‘I can’t wait to work even harder.’ And it’s like, ‘I don’t think you can work any harder, man. You just keep approaching it the way that you are.”
Etc.
Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and Adams combined for several impressive completions, including one for a touchdown during a short-yardage situation. Garoppolo also connected with Nacua for several touchdowns. … Backup quarterback Stetson Bennett and rookie receiver Konata Mumpfield combined for several completions. … The Rams’ defense held up well against quarterback Dak Prescott and the Cowboys’ offense. … Rams offensive lineman Kevin Dotson did not finish practice because of an unspecified injury. … Stafford watched the practice. McVay said Stafford was “making good progress” and that trainers have “been able to increase some things behind the scenes.” McVay declined to specify what that entailed.
