Kyren Williams has become an integral part of the Los Angeles Rams’ offense in the last two seasons, playing the majority of the snaps in the games that he’s been healthy for. He went from barely playing as a rookie in 2022 due to multiple injuries to carrying it 544 times in the last two seasons with 31 total touchdowns.
The 2025 campaign is shaping up to be a big one for Williams with his contract expiring after next season, but there’s a possibility he’ll be extended before the year even begins. In speaking with reporters on Thursday, Sean McVay said the Rams will discuss a potential contract extension for Williams this offseason.
“I think that’s something that definitely would be of a discussion,” he said. “Like you mentioned, when you look at it and you have an evaluation of your roster and it starts with those free agents or those guys that based on their contract status, what does that look like for you moving forward? You sit down and you say, ‘Alright, let’s put this puzzle together.’ It is an imperfect thing, but we try our best to make the best decisions for the football team. I’m really proud of the body of work that Kyren has put together, what he represents, and all the different things that we really want to be about as a football team. He’s checking a lot of those boxes. I think that’s certainly something that will be discussed as well.”
Thanks to his Pro Bowl selection in 2023, Williams has already earned a raise in 2025 through the Proven Performance Escalator – a system that rewards players drafted outside the first round for either playing significant snaps or making the Pro Bowl.
As a result, Williams’ base salary will be north of $5 million, matching whatever the amount is for the second-round RFA tender. For comparison, his salary ranged from $705,000 to $985,000 in each of his first three seasons.
So his projected cap number of $5.3 million is already slated to be among the 20 highest at his position. An extension would certainly bump that up, paying him more than he’s set to make in 2025.
It’s a matter of how much higher the Rams will (or are willing to) go. He could get something in the range of Chuba Hubbard’s deal, which is for $8.3 million per year. He could even approach David Montgomery at $9.125 million per year. But after Joe Mixon ($9.875 million), there’s a big gap to the next running back, Josh Jacobs ($12 million).
It won’t be easy for the Rams to find the right value for Williams with how unstable the running back market is, but if they believe he’ll remain their starter in 2025, signing him sooner rather than later could save them money.
If they don’t believe he’s the RB1 again, letting him play out his contract is probably the way to go.
