WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – Fully healthy for an entire season for the first time in his career, Rams running back Kyren Williams capitalized accordingly.
Accounting for nearly 81% of the team's rushing attempts by running backs, he posted 316 carries for 1,299 yards and 14 rushing touchdowns – all career-highs as he started in all 16 games he played in, being one of several starters who rested in Week 18. His 14 rushing touchdowns tied with the Falcons' Bijan Robinson and the Eagles' Jalen Hurts for the fifth-most in the 2024 regular season; his 1,299 rushing yards were seventh-most.
Williams is eligible for a contract extension since he's heading into into the final year of his rookie contract. Rams general manager Les Snead on Friday indicated the team would be open to such discussions this offseason.
"I think that's something that's going to be on the plate," Snead said. "He would be someone that after three years you could begin discussing, let's call it, renegotiating, starting anew. Because I do think Kyren is someone who is a Ram and has a very impactful role for us."
Should that come to fruition, Williams would be the first running back to be extended by Los Angeles since it signed Todd Gurley to a four-year one in 2018. Since Gurley's release in early 2020, the Rams have mostly relied on players on rookie contracts at the position – the exception being the addition of veteran Sony Michel leading into the 2021 season.
Williams has rushed for 1,000 yards in each of his last two seasons and became the first Rams running back since Gurley to score 14 rushing touchdowns in a season. He also became the third Rams player age 24 or younger to have at least 27 scrimmage touchdowns over a two-year span, joining Gurley (40 from 2017-18) and running back Eric Dickerson (34 from 1983-84).
He recorded at least one rushing touchdown in 17 games since the start of last season; only the Lions' David Montgomery (21) and the Ravens' Derrick Henry (19) have more over that span. Including Los Angeles' two playoff games, Williams had at least one scrimmage touchdown in 13 of its 19 games.
Like Snead, head coach Sean McVay also said a possible Williams extension "definitely would be of a discussion."
"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,'" McVay said Thursday. "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."
Although the Rams drafted Blake Corum in the third round of last year's draft, Snead said Corum's presence wouldn't get in the way of a possible extension for Williams.
"I think we would probably take the philosophy that you're going to need more than one running back, so we'll always try to keep that room somewhat healthy in terms of depth," Snead said. "Even with Kyren, he's had two great years, but there is a possibility, right, where he needs a partner to take some load off of him. He's probably played more than any running back over the last two years, so that's something to think about."
