Rams Current News & Events!

Yeah, its too bad they didn't stay in St.Louis

I've heard a bunch of times today that Donald and the Rams are VERY close to a contract extension... Supposedly even Donald feels like it'll be done by next week. Hope so!!!

This open confidence can be a good thing but reality must be the standard by which this team makes it to the snooperbowl or not. We all can cite instances in Rams history where we had this kind of confidence and then got soundly defeated in a season or an important game. The most recent example is last year against Atlanta. We were swooning from a complete turnaround season in performance especially on offense, we rested our starters, and then got soundly beat at home and out of the playoffs. Beware, beware!!

Deadspin: Sean McVay's Memory Is So Damn Scary.
https://deadspin.com/sean-mcvays-memory-is-so-damn-scary-1827775010

That Todd GurleyMon run was absolutely a stunner. He reminded me of Eric Dickerson with that explosive running and huge powerful stride in the open field for the score. He had a similar run against the Cards where I was at the game with Vita and it was the same type of explosion and a score!! Man that stuff is fun to watch!

NFL History Videos: The Best Games & Plays in history | NFL.com

It's easy to forget how great he was because the Rams were so bad during his years with them.

It's a shame they could never build a good team around him. He was all they had for quite some time.

“I’ve been told by multiple people in the NFL if this was just about Aaron Donald being the highest-paid defensive player in the history of the NFL, the deal would have already gotten done. Why? Because the Rams look like they are ready to do that. It’s probably going to be $20 million plus that they end up paying him. But, what I have been told is that doesn’t appear to be all he’s looking for. He wants to not only be the highest-paid defensive player of all-time, but it looks like in talking with some people, he wants to get paid like a quarterback. A high-level quarterback.”

Told you Donald was the one holding this up, not the Rams.
Donald is great, but he's not worth top QB money. He does not impact the game in the same way a top QB does. That's why they get the big bucks.

Donald doesn't even impact the game the same way Gurley does. If the Rams caved and gave Donald QB money, then what do they pay Gurley and Goff?

Donald is coming off very greedy and selfish. He does realize there are 52 other guys on the team, right? He does realize the Rams have to sign several other keys players soon, right? He does realize the Rams paying him that much affects who they can keep or not, and therefore affect the overall quality of the product, right?

Just wondering, because it doesn't sound like he does, or he does and doesn't care. He just wants the Rams to "show him the money".

ANGELAKERAMS said:

“I’ve been told by multiple people in the NFL if this was just about Aaron Donald being the highest-paid defensive player in the history of the NFL, the deal would have already gotten done. Why? Because the Rams look like they are ready to do that. It’s probably going to be $20 million plus that they end up paying him. But, what I have been told is that doesn’t appear to be all he’s looking for. He wants to not only be the highest-paid defensive player of all-time, but it looks like in talking with some people, he wants to get paid like a quarterback. A high-level quarterback.”

Told you Donald was the one holding this up, not the Rams.
Donald is great, but he's not worth top QB money. He does not impact the game in the same way a top QB does. That's why they get the big bucks.

Donald doesn't even impact the game the same way Gurley does. If the Rams caved and gave Donald QB money, then what do they pay Gurley and Goff?

Donald is coming off very greedy and selfish. He does realize there are 52 other guys on the team, right? He does realize the Rams have to sign several other keys players soon, right? He does realize the Rams paying him that much affects who they can keep or not, and therefore affect the overall quality of the product, right?

Just wondering, because it doesn't sound like he does, or he does and doesn't care. He just wants the Rams to "show him the money".

Click to expand...

We have a lot of players to keep happy, really good players so I agree with you. And remember last season Donald missed the preseason and camp and didn't have a very good start.
It took him a few games to catch up.

To funny... The Vault: Inside Eric Dickerson's Home

Rams Extend Todd Gurley to 4/60

15 mill a season boys

Red_Chaos said:

Rams Extend Todd Gurley to 4/60

15 mill a season boys

Click to expand...

Which again proves, the Rams are doing the right things for these guys, but obviously Donald is asking for absolutely ridiculous money...

Todd Gurley's Rams deal: Impact on RBs, Aaron Donald

Great read

Brandin Cooks

As expected, Cooks new contract gets team friendlier in 2021, so essentially its a 3 year deal. In 2019 he going to get paid big team, chance of making 27 million.

Steven Jackson on Twitter

Todd Gurley's Rams deal: Impact on RBs, Aaron Donald

1) Gurley is helping to speed up an inevitable reset of the RB market
As Le'Veon Bell will be happy to point out, a running back contract like this was overdue, and it was only a matter of time before we saw one. There has been a renaissance at the position over the last few years, something that Bucky Brooks wrote about last week, and which I noted in my recent running back rankings. Hybrid playmakers like Gurley, the Steelers' Bell, the Cardinals' David Johnson, the Cowboys' Ezekiel Elliott and the Saints' Alvin Kamara tilt the field on all three downs, excelling in every phase of the game. They can run with power, and they can run away from defenders as wideouts. There hasn't been a crop of game-changing running backs like this since LaDainian Tomlinson's peak, and the money was bound to catch up as the members of this group reached second contracts. Running backs weren't getting this kind of money earlier in the decade largely because there weren't running backs this dynamic.

As salaries across the league have otherwise exploded since the last collective bargaining agreement, running backs watched their salaries contract. Big deals for one-dimensional backs never made sense, and neither do lifetime achievement award deals, like the one Shaun Alexander once received from Seattle. But these are young players squarely in their prime who are among the most valuable non-quarterbacks in football. Is it really that hard to imagine a world in which guys like Gurley and Bell receive contracts approaching the dollars that the Giants pay defensive end Olivier Vernon or tackle Nate Solder? Does anyone believe that wideouts Sammy Watkins and Allen Robinson, who both earned similar deals to Gurley's extension, are more valuable to their new teams (the Chiefs and Bears, respectively)?

Bell is set to play under the franchise tag for the second straight year after failing to come to an agreement with Pittsburgh on a long-term deal before the deadline to do so for tagged players. As Bell's agent, Adisa Bakari, pointed out, the Steelers have tried to pay the position, not the player. I'd agree, although it's worth noting that the Steelers will have paid Bell $26.7 million over the two-year period of 2017 and '18. He hasn't received the long-term money that he'll get as a free agent in 2019 if he stays healthy, but Bell is already getting paid like a top-five player at any position other than quarterback.

The Rams shouldn't be castigated for paying Gurley so much more than the Falcons pay Devonta Freeman or the Bills pay LeSean McCoy. In a few years, this contract will look like a prescient move.

2) It's $45 million in guarantees, NOT guaranteed
The same routine happens every time a big contract is handed out. The initial figures appear to be massive, and every amateur capologist grows indignant about money that strangers are spending without even knowing the real numbers. And then, a day or three later, the actual terms turn out to be far more flexible and team-friendly than expected.

NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport was careful to note that Gurley is receiving $45 million in guarantees, not fully guaranteed money. That indicates the Rams will have some sort of contractual out based on Gurley's performance, injury status or some other structural detail of the contract.

Here's what we know: Gurley, 23, is under contract for six more years. In exchange for receiving more money up front (presumably), Gurley is giving up the ability to hit the market again until 2024. By paying the 2017 Offensive Player of the Year two years earlier than they had to, the Rams get to hold the financial cards for the rest of Gurley's prime. That's a win-win.

It's similar to how the Patriots gave Rob Gronkowski his second contract two years before he was a free agent. Like with Gronk's contract, I'd expect to hear sometime during the length of Gurley's deal what a bargain it turned out to be.

3) Fear not for Aaron Donald

General manager Les Snead said repeatedly this offseason that the Rams will be able to handle all the big contracts coming down the pike over the next few years. I believe him. Receiver Brandin Cooks (the April trade acquisition who was handed a five-year, $81 million extension earlier this month) and Gurley are now out of the way. Quarterback Jared Goff, whose rookie contract will carry him through 2020 (presuming the team picks up his fifth-year option), is off in the distance, and veteran defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh is very unlikely to get a long-term contract in Los Angeles. Cornerback Marcus Peters, currently under contract through 2019, is likely in an extended tryout.

Defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who is in the last year of his rookie deal, should eventually sign a contract with money that dwarfs the deals Gurley and Cooks signed, because of Donald's incredible talent and the market for star defensive players.

"Each situation is different," Snead said Tuesday. "You work on everything simultaneously, but you don't know when you are going to get something done or not."

That's not always an easy message to get across. Many of the Rams fans on the team Periscope of Tuesday's press conference focused on how upset they'd be if Donald isn't signed, rather than celebrating Gurley's deal. But remember that Donald is under contract for this year, and the franchise tag looms. It's not like the team is going to let a Hall of Fame talent just walk away. When Donald eventually does sign that deal, which could certainly come before this season, all of this agita will be forgotten.

4) The Rams are built to last

Today's NFL franchises are built for seasonal change and ever-evolving rosters. A team's true core is ultimately going to be somewhat small, and the Rams have a young core of players that is as good as any in football. Some of the supporting players, like safety Lamarcus Joyner and linebacker Mark Barron, could be changed out over the years, but Goff, Gurley and Donald should remain. More importantly, the Rams have perhaps the brightest young coach in football and a general manager aligned with him.

This year's squad is making a push for the Super Bowl, but there's no reason to believe it's 2018 or bust. This contract for Gurley is a reminder that these Rams are building an identity to last. Resetting the running back market before another team could is just another way they are staying ahead of the curve.