From 2017-2018, no one found the end zone more than running back Todd Gurley.
The No. 10 overall pick of the 2015 draft, Gurley scored a whopping 40 touchdowns in that span — 19 in 2017 and another 21 in 2018, despite missing three games that year.
But just a couple of years later, Gurley played his last season for the Falcons.
Still 29 for another month and change, Gurley recently joined the 25/10 Show, hosted by LeSean McCoy and DeSean Jackson. While McCoy and Jackson joked that Gurley could still make a comeback if he wanted to, Gurley confirmed he’s retired by saying “hell no” to that option.
Gurley seemed at peace when explaining how his last few seasons in the league transpired.
“I remember when I signed my extension with the Rams [in 2018], the agent was breaking it down,” Gurley said. “He was like, ‘You get this, you get this amount, and then if they cut you, you’ll be 26 with a lot of money and you’re young.’ And then the [Rams’] contract guy was like, ‘Yeah, but we’ll never let that happen.’ And that’s exactly how that shit played out.
“So, I got cut from the Rams, I went to Atlanta. I kind of had to see what they were talking about for real, because I played at Georgia. ... So, that one happened. And I was like, the season was sorry. And then after that it was like, alright bro, I live in L.A. I’m chilling. I’ve [done] everything. Of course, I would love to have a ring and stuff like that. But I went to a Super Bowl, lost. I wasn’t really tripping. I don’t know, I feel like I did a lot of stuff that I never would’ve thought I would’ve ever did. And just having fun, just playing football. … Living out a lot of people’s dreams, for real, that type of vibe.
“It really came down to like, it didn’t really matter if I scored 10 more touchdowns or if I scored zero. It wasn’t going to satisfy me no more, for real.”
Gurley added that he had an opportunity to sign with the Ravens in 2021 but at that point, he felt at peace with his career.
“But I grew up a Ravens fan — die hard. Ed Reed, favorite player,” Gurley said. “When I had to think about it, I was like, ‘Oh yeah, it’s over.’ It really ain’t up for discussion. And I’m like, bro I’m in L.A. I’m not about to go to … Detroit, Baltimore — hell no. I’m chillin’. I’m vibin’. Just having a good perspective for real.”
In his 88 career games, Gurley rushed for 6,082 yards with 67 touchdowns and caught 243 passes for 2,254 yards with 12 touchdowns from 2015-2020.
Rams running back Kyren Williams finished last season No. 3 in the league with 1,144 yards rushing.
That came after the 2022 fifth-round pick recorded just 215 yards from scrimmage on 44 touches as a rookie.
During an interview on the Riche Eisen Show this week, Williams said the game “1,000 percent” slowed down for him during his second season. He pointed to the Week 6 victory over Arizona — in which he rushed for 158 yards with a TD — as a specific game when things clicked. But he had been working toward that moment for months.
“Just coming off my rookie year, I knew what to expect, you know? There weren’t any more surprises for me going forward,” Williams said. “I knew that I just had to work. There wasn’t really anything else for me to do. I had a point to prove and that was only going to get proven by the work I put in. And so coming into that second year, I was confident more than ever because I had put in the work. I went home, I went to St. Louis, I came down to Florida — I did the things I had to do to get ready for camp. And then so I just knew that whenever my time was called, I was going to do the things that I’ve done my whole life.
“So, this was not a surprise for me. It took a while — everything does. Now this year, I’m just going to keep grinding like I’m still trying to get to that point where I want to be.”
Williams, 23, wants to make sure he continues that upward trajectory in 2024.
“Honestly, it’s just growing off of what I did last year and being a leader on the field — being somebody people can come to or people can just watch and observe, see what they need to do to be successful,” Williams said. “It really doesn’t take much. You’ve got to be dedicated and you’ve got to work every single day to get to where you want to be — knowing that the end goal is not going to happen tomorrow, or it might not happen the next day.
“But eventually, if you continue to keep working every single day, [you’re] going to get to where you need to be. So for me, it’s just living by that.”
Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua could hardly be expected to play any better in 2024 than he did in 2023, when he was one of the best rookie receivers in NFL history. But he’s doing everything he can to become a better player.
That starts with getting in better shape by going to teammate Cooper Kupp’s house for early-morning workouts.
Rams wide receivers coach Eric Yarber says his biggest piece of advice for Nacua heading into his first NFL offseason was to take care of his body the same way that Kupp does.
“The first thing I wanted him to do is hold on to Cooper Kupp’s coattails and train with him and do everything he does,” Yarber told Sarah Barshop of ESPN. “And he took that to heart.”
Yarber says Nacua is in noticeably better shape now than he was as a rookie.
“His body is totally different,” Yarber said. “He looks just like Cooper. He’s lost so much body fat and gained so much lean muscle, which enabled him to move more efficiently now. And he has better body control. But he did exactly what I said. And you’re seeing some of the results right now.”
Since his Offensive Player of the Year-winning season in 2021, Kupp has struggled with injuries and his production has declined significantly. Last year, the emergence of Nacua made up for Kupp missing five games and being less than 100 percent healthy in others. But if Nacua and Kupp can both be healthy and in great shape this year, Matthew Stafford will have as good a pair of receivers to throw to as any quarterback in the NFL. Those early-morning workouts are designed to have both of them ready for big years.
After he didn’t receive much playing time as a rookie, Rams running back Kyren Williams had a clear breakout season in 2023.
Despite missing four games with an ankle injury, Williams finished the year with 1,144 yards rushing with 12 rushing touchdowns. He was a second-team All-Pro and Pro Bowler, having led the league with 95.3 yards rushing per game.
This offseason, the Rams doubled down on their ground game by selecting former Michigan running back Blake Corum in the third round of the draft. In an interview this week on the Rich Eisen Show, Williams expressed excitement to play with Corum — noting that the rookie running back’s presence may allow him to show more versatility.
“[J]ust picking off what I did last year, being able to create more explosives in the run game, and also being able to create more explosives in the pass game,” Williams said, via Cameron DaSilva of USA Today. “I’m super excited that we went to go draft Blake Corum, somebody who can run the ball very well and hopefully it allows me to get to the slot or allows me to just run routes out of the backfield so that I’m able to really showcase my skills that I have for this game.”
Williams did display an ability to catch passes last year, finishing with 32 receptions for 206 yards with three touchdowns. We’ll see if the Rams give him some chances to show what he can do outside of the backfield in the coming months.
The Rams have announced their training camp schedule for their new location at Loyola Marymount University.
Beginning Thursday, July 25, Los Angeles will host eight open practice sessions for fans through August 3. Most sessions begin in the afternoon and each will feature a promotional giveaway.
While Rams training camp is free to attend, fans will need to register for a ticket, as space is limited. An individual can claim up to four tickets per practice on the team’s website.
Tickets will be available starting Tuesday, June 25 at 10 a.m. PT.
While the Rams are slated to have joint practices this summer, they will not take place during the team’s sessions at LMU.
In two years, the market has gone from $46 million (Deshaun Watson) to $51 million (Jalen Hurts) to $55 million (Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence). Inevitably, a quarterback will get to $60 million per year in new-money average.
Who will it be? Rich Eisen asked that question recently. I threw out a couple of possible names. I’ve since had a chance to go team by team and to compile a full list of possibilities.
In the end, it’s going to be a product of negotiations and circumstances. More than one of the names listed below could get to $60 million. For now, the question is who gets there first?
Here they are, listed in a loose hierarchy of most likely to least likely. For anyone who isn’t on the list, it’s not just unlikely — it’s likely impossible.
Dak Prescott, Cowboys: He’s currently in the best position to get a contract that starts with a 6. Between the growth of the market, the ongoing increases to the salary cap, and the leverage that comes from the final year of the contract that the Cowboys waited too long to give him, Prescott can basically name his price. Why wouldn’t that price be $60 million per year?
Jordan Love, Packers: The Packers and Love are working on a new contract. With $11 million in cash due for 2024, a five-year, $300 million extension would have a new-money average of $60 million — and a total-money average of $51.83 million over six years. With no owner diverting profits to superyacht construction or maintenance, the Packers can reinvest all profits in their football operations. If they’re truly sold on Love (and if they can construct the contract to give them an out after two or three years), it wouldn’t be a shock if he gets to $60 million first.
Matthew Stafford, Rams: He originally wanted a new contract in order to have fully-guaranteed money beyond 2024. Now that the guy he beat in a Super Bowl is at $55 million (Burrow), a guy who has never been past the divisional round is at $55 million (Lawrence), and the guy the Rams gave up a first-round pick to get off their books is at $53 million (Jared Goff), why shouldn’t Stafford want $60 million?
With $94 million owed to Stafford over the next three years, a three-year, $180 million extension would get him to $60 million per year in new money — at a total six-year average of only $45.66 million.
Tua Tagovailoa, Dolphins: He wants a market-level deal. The Dolphins haven’t offered one yet. Whatever they put on the table, it surely won’t reach $60 million per year. At very best, he’d get something like $55.1 million, nudging the current bar up by just a little bit.
That said, don’t discount the possibility of a fugazi back-end year or two that artificially drives up the average. The Dolphins already did that with Tyreek Hill, getting his latest contract from a true $25 million to a phony $30 million per year in new money. If Tua wants to be able to tell the world he got $60 million, there’s a way to get there without actually going there.
Brock Purdy, 49ers: He’s not eligible for a new contract until after the end of the 2024 regular season. If no one else has gotten to $60 million by then, could he? For Purdy, having $1.1 million in 2025 salary makes it easier to pump up the new-money average. A five-year, $300 million extension translates to a six-year, $301.1 million contract with an average value from signing of $50.18 million.
That still seems like much more than the 49ers would want to pay.
C.J. Stroud, Texans: The window for a new Stroud deal opens after the conclusion of the 2025 regular season. If no one else gets to $60 million by then, Stroud likely will. He’d have $1.145 million for 2026 and the fifth-year option for 2027. A five-year extension at $60 million would entail another much lower total payout at signing.
Josh Allen, Bills: With each new quarterback contract, Allen’s six-year, $258.3 million extension becomes more glaring. He has a new-money average of $43.05 million. Thus, one of the top two quarterbacks in the NFL isn’t even in the top 10 in new-money average.
He has four years left on his current contract, at a total payout after 2024 of $156.05 million. That’s an average of $39 million per year on the back end of his current deal. The Bills might not want to hear this, especially with upcoming cap charges of $60.7 million, $56.4 million, $49.4 million, and $45.7 million, but Allen is underpaid. He should want a new deal. He should get a new deal. If his agents are currently rattling the cage behind the scenes, he could be the first to $60 million.
Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs: Mahomes did an ultra-long-term deal at $45 million per year in new money. The contract ties him to the Chiefs through 2031 (possibly their first season in Kansas) and relies on the willingness of the organization to move money around in order to ensure that the player with the most value in the NFL feels like he’s being treated fairly. Last year, for example, the Chiefs reshuffled the financial deck after the Burrow deal was done to give Mahomes cash flow of $52 million per year from 2023 through 2026.
The Chiefs hope to keep doing that, every few years. At some point, a new deal will be needed. If that were happening now, he’d surely get to $60 million per year in new money — especially since he’s worth far more than that to the Chiefs, and to the league at large.
Lamar Jackson, Ravens: From the player with the most value to the league to the league’s defending Most Valuable Player. He’s only one season into his current contract. It’s highly unlikely that the Ravens would even consider giving him a new one now. Still, at some level, Lamar Jackson might be looking at the ongoing growth of the market and wondering what’s wrong with this picture?
Consider this wrinkle. If the Ravens had given Jackson a market-level deal after 2020 (and not after 2022), he’d be three years into his second deal and, riding last year’s MVP award, in position to ask for an extension. That logic could prompt him to ask for one now.
At this point, there’s no reason to think Jackson wants to revisit his contract. If he unexpectedly decides to take a stand, he could potentially emerge from a training-camp holdout as the first $60 million quarterback.
Eight times in 10 seasons, Aaron Donald earned first-team All-Pro honors. The defensive tackle was 10-for-10 on Pro Bowls.
Donald, who announced his retirement this offseason, is in the conversation for best defensive player ever.
The Rams know they aren’t going to replace Donald with one player, which is why defensive coordinator Chris Shula has talked about a committee approach this season.
Defensive back Quentin Lake is confident the Rams have the right players to make up for Donald’s departure.
“Yeah, sometimes you talk about ‘Are you going to replace him,’ and as we know, you can’t replace him,” Lake said on NFL Network. “You can’t replace Aaron Donald. Aaron Donald is the greatest defensive player that we have seen, and Sean McVay talked about it, he said he was full, and [General Manager] Les Snead did a great job of finding guys to fit our scheme, our new defensive scheme. But Aaron Donald did a great job of making sure that the guys behind him and the guys that were with him were ready. Guys like Kobie Turner, guys like Bobby Brown, Byron Young, the young players, the young up and coming talented players are ready.
“And like I said, Les Snead and his staff did a great job of bringing in new players to upgrade and uplift our scheme, guys like Jared Verse, our first-round pick, and Braden Fiske, our second-round pick. These are guys that love the game, fit our culture, and I’m excited to see what they’re going to do.”
Brown and Turner are the expected starters at defensive tackle, and rookies and former Florida State teammates Braden Fiske and Jared Verse are part of the front seven.
The Rams finished 20th in yards (337.9) and 19th in points (22.2) last season.
For the 2024 Olympics, the U.S. swimming trials happened where the Colts play. For the 2028 Olympics in L.A., the swimming competition will happen where the Rams and Chargers play.
Via Kevin Draper and Jenny Vrentas of the New York Times, the swimming events at the next Olympics will be held at SoFi Stadium.
The venue will hold up to 35,000 fans for the swimming events. The process of preparing the competition pool and the warmup pool will flip the order of the games, with track and field in the first week and swimming moving to the second. (The pools will be in place when the games begin, but more time will be needed to get them ready for competition after the opening ceremonies at SoFi.)
“I have no doubt that it will be the biggest attended swim meet in this country’s history, and maybe the most spectacular swim meet ever,” Casey Wasserman, chairman of the L.A. organizing committee told Draper and Vrentas.
A record 22,209 fans attended Wednesday’s trials. That broke the record set earlier this week in Indianapolis.
Even in St. Louis, where the locals currently hate the Rams, the fans still have a sore spot regarding the lingering perception that New England’s win in Super Bowl XXXVI was tainted by chicanery.
And so, when Patriots quarterback Tom Brady returned to St. Louis on Sunday to present the UFL Championship MVP award to Birmingham Stallions quarterback Adrian Martinez, St. Louis fans responded.
Here’s one video, from X. (Maybe they can edit out the boos for the re-air.)
Before he presented the MVP trophy, Brady made a second-quarter appearance in the Fox broadcast booth. Before the game, Brady was chatting on the field with former Rams quarterback Kurt Warner, who has said in the past that there’s a “sliver of doubt” as to whether the Patriots were up to something in connection with what would have been the second St. Louis championship in three seasons.
Brady had better get used to being booed. His Patriots ran roughshod over the league for years. There’s a lot of resentment still lingering.
And when Brady goes to Buffalo, they might have something other than boos ready for him.
Most teams keep close to the vest the various different scenarios that might have played out in round one. The reason is simple. Teams don’t want to undermine the guy they ultimately got.
The Rams have leaned all the way into the potential alternative scenarios, via their cooperation with The Pick is In, a 90-minute documentary regarding the 2024 draft.
Video from inside the Rams’ draft house shows their efforts to try to trade up to No. 10 with the Jets. Rams G.M. Les Snead offered Jets G.M. Joe Douglas the 19th overall pick and a second-round selection, pick No. 52.
While the Jets were on the clock, Rams coach Sean McVay separately called Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell to confirm he wouldn’t be inclined to trade back if O’Connell’s guy (J.J. McCarthy) was there. (It’s possible that the Vikings made the move from No. 11 to No. 10 because O’Connell became concerned by McVay’s call that the Rams were thinking about jumping the Vikings in order to get McCarthy.)
After the Jets traded down to No. 11 with the Vikings, the Rams tried again to move up. Snead offered No. 19, 52, and a third-round pick (No. 99) for No. 11 and No. 185, in round six. Douglas declined.
The Rams kept trying, until the Raiders took tight end Brock Bowers with the 13th pick. (The Rams offered the 19th pick and the 52nd pick for No. 13 and No. 112 to Las Vegas. The Raiders stayed put.)
It became clear from the context that the Rams wanted Bowers. After the Raiders took Bowers, the Rams became focused on a potential Aaron Donald replacement, in the form of Texas defensive tackle Byron Murphy.
That didn’t last long, because Murphy went just three picks later. And coach Sean McVay correctly sensed that No. 16 — Seattle — was the floor for Murphy.
The Rams ultimately remained at No. 19 and took Florida State edge rusher Jared Verse. And while they were happy about it (because what else would they say?), the peek inside the draft room makes it clear that they wanted Bowers first and then Murphy, before settling for Verse.
Even without the candor from the Rams, we already knew that’s how it goes on draft night. Teams have considered every scenario, and plenty of them plot for ways to get a guy they want, when they know he might not otherwise fall to them. For the Rams, neither of their top two targets did.