LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kyren Williams grew up in St. Louis going to Rams games and dreaming of someday carrying the ball for his favorite team.
The running back has done it impressively over the past two seasons — and with his new contract, he won't wake up anytime soon from his childhood dream.
Williams agreed to a three-year, $33 million extension with the Los Angeles Rams on Tuesday, wrapping up months of contract negotiations with a deal through 2028.
Williams has been a productive starter in the Rams' backfield for two years, producing back-to-back 1,100-yard seasons. Los Angeles resolved its most significant contract issue before the new season with a deal that includes $23 million in guaranteed money.
Williams made the Pro Bowl in 2023 while finishing third in the NFL in yards rushing, and he has rushed for 2,582 yards and 26 touchdowns while adding 464 yards receiving and five more TDs over three seasons as a versatile component of Sean McVay's offense.
“For me, it means everything,” Williams said. "It means a whole lot that just this organization believes in me, and I’m going to continue giving them everything I have in my soul to make sure they know that.”
Williams and the Rams finalized the deal during a meeting in McVay's office on Tuesday morning before the team headed to Oxnard, California, for a joint practice with the Dallas Cowboys.
“We gave them the offer, we gave them the things that we wanted,” Williams said. "And the great Rams organization, and (executive) Matthew (Shearin) and Coach McVay, they discussed, and they came back to me. And, man, I couldn’t believe what they said. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting them to say yes. But when they did, you should have seen me.”
While signing his deal, Williams made a joyous FaceTime call to his mother, who took him to innumerable Rams games at the then-Edward Jones Dome.
McVay got inconsistent production out of his running backs for four years after the Rams released Todd Gurley following the 2019 season, but Williams has been a dependable workhorse back who makes up for his lack of elite breakaway speed with relentlessness and toughness. McVay also has consistently praised Williams' locker room presence and leadership.
“I think the coolest thing, where you know this is the right thing, is ... how he wanted to still be here, but then when you start to see his teammates’ reaction, and when you see how happy his coaches, his teammates are for him, you feel really good for him,” McVay said. "And the best part about it is he’ll just continue to do what he’s done. He’s like, ‘I can’t wait to work even harder.’ And it’s like, I don’t think you can work any harder.”
Williams also made an offseason decision that likely played a role in the relatively speedy resolution of his negotiations when he reported to training camp last month as scheduled. He has participated in all practices instead of holding out before the final year of his rookie deal.
The fifth-round pick out of Notre Dame in 2022 said he never seriously considered a holdout or a hold-in, preferring to keep the focus on the team.
“I know what the Rams are about, and I know what we stand for,” Williams said. ”I know the standard here is not (holding out). I know a person who thinks that they’re bigger than the program is not where we’re at. And so for me, I didn’t want to give off any type of ill feelings to my teammates, to the organization, to myself.”
Williams is due to make $5.34 million this season in the final year of his rookie deal, and he will remain the lynchpin of the Rams' ground game even though the team has invested in the running back position with more enthusiasm than most opponents in recent seasons.
Los Angeles general manager Les Snead has drafted a running back in eight consecutive drafts, and he now has one of the NFL's top-10 highest-paid running backs despite drafting Blake Corum in the third round in 2023 and trading up to pick Jarquez Hunter in the fourth round last April.
Williams had career highs of 1,299 yards rushing and 14 rushing touchdowns last season, accounting for a league-high 73.6% of the Rams' rushing output. But he also fumbled five times in the regular season and again in the postseason, and Williams has been working on grip strength during the offseason to avoid a repeat.
Williams is just the second Rams draft pick since 2018 to be given a second consecutive contract by the team. Receiver Tutu Atwell, drafted one year before Williams, is back for a fifth season with Los Angeles after getting a surprising one-year, $10 million deal in the opening days of free agency last spring.
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AP freelance reporter Dan Greenspan in Oxnard, California, contributed to this report.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL
Greg Beacham, The Associated Press
