Rams finalizing contract extension for Todd Gurley

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The Rams continue to lock up their young stars — at least the ones on offense.

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Rams are finalizing a four-year extension for running back Todd Gurley which is worth $60 million, $45 million of which is guaranteed.

Gurley had two years left on his existing deal, so he’s now tied to the team through the 2023 season.

The deal is an outlier because few running backs are making that kind of money, and his previous empathy for Le'Veon Bell is now merely sympathy.

The Rams have also extended wide receiver Brandin Cooks, but haven’t made any reported progress with defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who is entering the last year of his deal.

44 responses to “Rams finalizing contract extension for Todd Gurley

  1. The Rams “haven’t made any reported progress” on Donald, huh?

    So you think they’d tell you? Seems like the Gurley deal took you and the rest of the media by surprise so maybe, just maybe, these types of negotiations can be kept private.

    (I’ll bet that Donald is signed by 9/1/18)

  2. So they’re paying everyone and their dog, but Donald. Not paying your best player is the fastest way to lose the locker room. Then adding Suh for 1 year, 14M is the cherry on top.

  3. Cool and all good but how do you not take care of the defense and Donald first and foremost!
    Donald > Cook and Gurley. Not saying that Gurley doesn’t deserve it by no means but come on history shows that defense wins championships, teams fear Donald they respect Gurley’s game. Just saying Before you run out of coin Prioritize. Or send him my team!

  4. Wow, 15 a year isn’t anything to turn your nose at but I’m a bit surprised he chose not to wait until after this season to get it done, potentially he could’ve squeezed some more out of them. Might be a good deal all around if Gurley stays healthy and continues to perform at the level he did last year.

  5. nhpats says:
    July 24, 2018 at 1:56 pm
    Le’veon Bell and Aaron Donald demand explanations!


    LVB doesn’t get one. He doesn’t play on the Rams. Donald on the other hand should be licking his chops. Nothing says he won’t get a long term deal. Just that he hasn’t.

  6. Not a bad deal for both. Shorter term contract, only 4 years with 45 millions guaranteed. I think that’s a bit steep, but it is easier to bite off because of the length of the deal.

  7. I guess they missed the memo about how DEFENSE wins championships.

    Cooks guaranteed 50M+ and Gurley 45M. This will bite ’em in future

  8. What a slap in the face to Donald.
    ________________

    It’s not. Donald is working the Rams for a contract likely better than what Suh got from Miami. There was no out of this world contract for RB’s so it was easier to negotiate with Gurley than it is for Donald.

  9. Alienate the Defense for sure. Enos pays the offense like the days of Mike Martz. Gurley suffers an injury on that knee and wow thats a ton of money to eat. Meanwhile, Donald goes back to Pittsburgh holding out and eats his way to gaining 70 pounds over not being appreciated. SOSAR

  10. OBP says:
    Might be a good deal all around if Gurley stays healthy.

    =============================================

    That’s a Big IF

  11. Good deal for likely both the team and Gurley. You can make an argument that he’s the top running back in the NFL and at worst is a top 3 back. Plus unlike Bell he has shown that he doesn’t have the off the field(suspension for weed) or durability concerns(in the NFL). Not to mention his cap doesn’t take the extension jump until the 2020 season

  12. Here’s what the Rams payroll is going to look like by 2020…

    Gurley – 15 million
    Cooks – 16 million
    Goff – 30 million
    Peters – 15 million
    Donald – 25 million

    Too bad they traded away all of their 1st and 2nd round picks to acquire these guys. Now they won’t have high draft picks on rookie contracts to replace aging and expensive vets like Whitworth, Barron, Brockers, Talib, etc… they will have to rely on 3rd day draft picks and FA bargains to replace 50% of their starters.

    But hey at least it was a fun offseason that made the team worry about choking

  13. daphne49er says:

    July 24, 2018 at 2:15 pm

    I guess they missed the memo about how DEFENSE wins championships.

    Cooks guaranteed 50M+ and Gurley 45M. This will bite ’em in future

    __________________

    Yep because defense was the key force in last year Super Bowl. Also the 50m+ and 45m are the fully guarantees; as Cooks is only fully guaranteed 20.5M the rest is only for injury and if eclipse several clauses in his contract, the same will be for Gurley with half or over half being for injury or if he eclipse several clauses in the contract.

  14. nhpats says:
    July 24, 2018 at 1:56 pm
    Le’veon Bell and Aaron Donald demand explanations!
    —-
    Not really. The Rams extended Gurley with 2 years left on his rookie deal and possibly 2 more years of franchise tagging after that. Plus Gurley was drafted in the middle of the first round so he had more money to work with on his rookie deal.

  15. Wow, I am a fan and happy for all. As a worker, what message is this sending: Outperform your contract every year, but when you ask for a well deserved raise….No. But the guy 3 cubicles away performed great 1 year, okay the next, then great again….and he gets a raise? Not to mention the 2 new employees, who are with their 3rd employers respectively and they get paid more than the employee who ALWAYS shows up and dominates?

    Just say we are focusing on the Offense and not paying our defensive players anymore. Offense sells tickets but man, AD is NASTY. What happens when someone figures out McVay; it is bound to happen. Then what? AD made the transition from 4/3 to 3/4 and still dominated. I am speechless.

    As a fan, I have faith and trust the front office but man. I was thinking about the NFL Sunday Ticket payment today and seeing if I could wait to pay week 2. I have spent over $5,000 since 1999 on the package; last year was the 1st since 2004 (2008) when I watched it and the Rams the entire season. Yes, Browns fans get to enjoy October, November and December outside with their friends and families but I hate being dragged along for a 7-9 season, or be 3-4 November 1st just to lose the last 8 games.

    I am done venting. Please pay AD. He deserves it.

  16. nathanp2013 says:
    July 24, 2018 at 2:23 pm
    Here’s what the Rams payroll is going to look like by 2020…

    Gurley – 15 million
    Cooks – 16 million
    Goff – 30 million
    Peters – 15 million
    Donald – 25 million

    Too bad they traded away all of their 1st and 2nd round picks to acquire these guys. Now they won’t have high draft picks on rookie contracts to replace aging and expensive vets like Whitworth, Barron, Brockers, Talib, etc… they will have to rely on 3rd day draft picks and FA bargains to replace 50% of their starters.

    But hey at least it was a fun offseason that made the team worry about choking

    2 2 Rate This

    —————————

    Here is what will happen:

    1. They will not win the SB this year and it’s their best chance to do it. They won’t ever win it under this financial make-up. Not gonna happen. This isn’t the NBA.
    2. They will have to cut Suh and Talib after this season.
    3. Peters and Joyner, along with Donald will still have leverage on Snead. I would deal Peters since he’ll want 14 mil per and his IQ and immaturity is not there. Pass.
    4. Goff needs to be paid next along with the above 3 players.
    5. Snead will be fired first, even if it may take a few seasons.

    For the life of me, with a rookie cap in place, I have no idea why only the Pats get why that’s such an advantage, while other teams just completely blow it off and don’t get that it’s an easy way for the GM to maintain leverage and keep quality cap health, without hiccups.

    Snead is also paying all the “sexy” positions when that money should be going to Tackle, DT, maybe one of the linebackers and one Safety and MAYBE 1 of the CBs, who is not 32 years old.

    I would deal Peters after this year and pay Joyner, but I would have dealt away Donald or Gurley. Can’t pay that many high profile positions while ignoring the most logical one you drafted and developed under a rookie deal.

    This is Mickey Loomis stupid-level right here, folks. Mickey Loomis, the Jets, Marty Hurney from Carolina, etc. Real, real dumb. Like, real dumb/show me your college degree dumb.

  17. chickensalad43 says:
    July 24, 2018 at 1:59 pm
    Somewhere, Le’Veon Bell is smiling.

    Yeah – he will get his cash. But he’ll be sitting his azz down during the playoffs w/ some 4-12 or 6-10 loser.

  18. You just gave 45 mil to the most turnstile replaceable position on a team. I want Seattle to get on the line with LA and work a deal for Donald. Frank Clark and Earl Thomas and we will sign Aaron to a 4 year 80 million all guaranteed extension.

  19. Luckily for this new super team, 9-7 might be good enough to win the division.

  20. grant35 says:
    July 24, 2018 at 2:52 pm
    chickensalad43 says:
    July 24, 2018 at 1:59 pm
    Somewhere, Le’Veon Bell is smiling.

    Yeah – he will get his cash. But he’ll be sitting his azz down during the playoffs w/ some 4-12 or 6-10 loser.
    …………………………..
    You do realize the pay for playoff games is something like 38,000 for first week, then 48,000 for the second and so on. Is that worth risking your career? Think about that a sec when you wonder what the percentage of players secretly wish for more vacation time compared to making the playoffs.

  21. I’m all for these guys getting paid. The NFL is the worst of all the sports for abusing it’s talent. BUT…from an organizational stand point…why pay until you have to. If he hurts his knee etc etc. You are stuck. It’s brutal…but to sustain success you need to be cold and callous. didn’t make sense to give Barkley all that guaranteed money either…Of course…the system needs to change. The money should be guaranteed..period.

  22. Wow! They are spending like it’s Monopoly money which you’ll lose if you own Marvin Gardens and not Boardwalk.

  23. Why would the Rams pay a running back much more than the current market for the position?

  24. This deal will throw 2 different locker rooms into a tizzy. LeVeon Bell may not report to the Steelers until week 7 so he can still get credit for the year and Aaron Donald has to be wondering what’s up. He’s been begging for an extension for 2 years and got ignored. Rams give Gurley an unprecedented deal with 2 years left on his deal. This ought to be fun.

  25. jackedupboonie says:
    July 24, 2018 at 3:37 pm
    grant35 says:
    July 24, 2018 at 2:52 pm
    chickensalad43 says:
    July 24, 2018 at 1:59 pm
    Somewhere, Le’Veon Bell is smiling.

    Yeah – he will get his cash. But he’ll be sitting his azz down during the playoffs w/ some 4-12 or 6-10 loser.
    …………………………..
    You do realize the pay for playoff games is something like 38,000 for first week, then 48,000 for the second and so on. Is that worth risking your career? Think about that a sec when you wonder what the percentage of players secretly wish for more vacation time compared to making the playoffs.

    ——————
    You sound like a real dedicated worker. The kind of guy whose biggest concern is how much vacation and sick time he gets

  26. Look, all I was pointing out, was that a guy making 17 paychecks of anything over 200,000$ per during the regular season might think it’s a slap in the face to practice and risk a year long injury for an extra week or 3 for 38,000 a week instead of being on vacation. Not to many people find in their job that if you have a productive year, being rewarded with an extra 1-4 weeks of work at possibly 1/10th-1/20th your regular pay.

  27. derp363 says:
    July 24, 2018 at 6:57 pm
    another smart move by the rams. get their guys signed before somebody else sets the market.

    2 2 Rate This

    ——————-

    do you realize suh set the market and left due to miami cap hell only to sign with the rams before donald did?

    i have seen some really dumb things on here before but this one is ear the top

    and, cooks just fleeced les snead

    and ya lost a 1 st rd pick at the same time

  28. As a niners fan this is the greatest move ever. Paying this kind of money to a RB in 2018 is insane and I LOVE it. Their payroll is outrageous and in 1-2 years they’ll have to cut all these high priced guys. Mark my words— LA Rams are back to bottom of division in 3 years.

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