Rams RB Kyren Williams agrees to 3-year contract extension worth up to $33 million

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kyren Williams grew up in St. Louis going to Rams games and dreaming of someday carrying the ball for his favorite team.

The running back has done it impressively over the past two seasons — and with his new contract, he won't wake up anytime soon from his childhood dream.

Williams agreed to a three-year, $33 million extension with the Los Angeles Rams on Tuesday, wrapping up months of contract negotiations with a deal through 2028.

Williams has been a productive starter in the Rams' backfield for two years, producing back-to-back 1,100-yard seasons. Los Angeles resolved its most significant contract issue before the new season with a deal that includes $23 million in guaranteed money.

Williams made the Pro Bowl in 2023 while finishing third in the NFL in yards rushing, and he has rushed for 2,582 yards and 26 touchdowns while adding 464 yards receiving and five more TDs over three seasons as a versatile component of Sean McVay's offense.

“For me, it means everything,” Williams said. "It means a whole lot that just this organization believes in me, and I’m going to continue giving them everything I have in my soul to make sure they know that.”

Williams and the Rams finalized the deal during a meeting in McVay's office on Tuesday morning before the team headed to Oxnard, California, for a joint practice with the Dallas Cowboys.

“We gave them the offer, we gave them the things that we wanted,” Williams said. "And the great Rams organization, and (executive) Matthew (Shearin) and Coach McVay, they discussed, and they came back to me. And, man, I couldn’t believe what they said. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting them to say yes. But when they did, you should have seen me.”

While signing his deal, Williams made a joyous FaceTime call to his mother, who took him to innumerable Rams games at the then-Edward Jones Dome.

McVay got inconsistent production out of his running backs for four years after the Rams released Todd Gurley following the 2019 season, but Williams has been a dependable workhorse back who makes up for his lack of elite breakaway speed with relentlessness and toughness. McVay also has consistently praised Williams' locker room presence and leadership.

“I think the coolest thing, where you know this is the right thing, is ... how he wanted to still be here, but then when you start to see his teammates’ reaction, and when you see how happy his coaches, his teammates are for him, you feel really good for him,” McVay said. "And the best part about it is he’ll just continue to do what he’s done. He’s like, ‘I can’t wait to work even harder.’ And it’s like, I don’t think you can work any harder.”

Williams also made an offseason decision that likely played a role in the relatively speedy resolution of his negotiations when he reported to training camp last month as scheduled. He has participated in all practices instead of holding out before the final year of his rookie deal.

The fifth-round pick out of Notre Dame in 2022 said he never seriously considered a holdout or a hold-in, preferring to keep the focus on the team.

“I know what the Rams are about, and I know what we stand for,” Williams said. ”I know the standard here is not (holding out). I know a person who thinks that they’re bigger than the program is not where we’re at. And so for me, I didn’t want to give off any type of ill feelings to my teammates, to the organization, to myself.”

Williams is due to make $5.34 million this season in the final year of his rookie deal, and he will remain the lynchpin of the Rams' ground game even though the team has invested in the running back position with more enthusiasm than most opponents in recent seasons.

Los Angeles general manager Les Snead has drafted a running back in eight consecutive drafts, and he now has one of the NFL's top-10 highest-paid running backs despite drafting Blake Corum in the third round in 2023 and trading up to pick Jarquez Hunter in the fourth round last April.

Williams had career highs of 1,299 yards rushing and 14 rushing touchdowns last season, accounting for a league-high 73.6% of the Rams' rushing output. But he also fumbled five times in the regular season and again in the postseason, and Williams has been working on grip strength during the offseason to avoid a repeat.

Williams is just the second Rams draft pick since 2018 to be given a second consecutive contract by the team. Receiver Tutu Atwell, drafted one year before Williams, is back for a fifth season with Los Angeles after getting a surprising one-year, $10 million deal in the opening days of free agency last spring.

AP freelance reporter Dan Greenspan in Oxnard, California, contributed to this report.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL

Los Angeles Rams running back Kyren Williams gestures while speaking to reporters before the start of NFL football training camp at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Greg Beacham)

Los Angeles Rams running back Kyren Williams gestures while speaking to reporters before the start of NFL football training camp at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Greg Beacham)

Los Angeles Rams running back Kyren Williams carries the ball during an NFL training camp Tuesday, July 29, 2025, in Los Angeles, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Los Angeles Rams running back Kyren Williams runs for a touchdown during the NFL football team's training camp Thursday, July 24, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)

Los Angeles Rams running back Kyren Williams runs the ball during an NFL football practice Saturday, July 26, 2025, in Los Angeles, Calif. (AP Photo/Jayne Kamin-Oncea)

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Dylan Guenther scored his 39th goal of the season, Clayton Keller had three assists to reach 56 and the Utah Mammoth beat the Nashville Predators 4-1 on Thursday night for their fifth straight victory.

Utah (42-30-6), which has won seven of 10, can clinch the franchise's first playoff berth in its second season if the Anaheim Ducks beat the San Jose Sharks later Thursday. The Mammoth sit in the first Western Conference wild card spot with 90 points and have a six-point lead over Nashville.

Kailer Yamamoto, Nick Schmaltz and captain Lawson Crouse also scored for Utah, and Karel Vejmelka stopped 29 shots.

Erik Haula had Carolina's goal and Juuse Saros made 23 saves.

Yamamoto, who only played 12 NHL games last season, scored his 12th goal to open the scoring with 5:33 to go in the first period. He deflected in a puck off a cross-crease pass from Guenther for his second goal in the last three games.

Schmaltz scored his 31st goal — and fifth in his last five games — on a power play 5:35 into the second for a 2-0 lead. Keller slid the puck across the crease to Schmaltz at the back door.

Crouse, who had 20 points all of last season, scored his 22nd goal early in the third for a 3-0 lead.

Guenther's goal made it six straight games Utah has scored at least four times.

Haula scored on the power play for Nashville midway through the third after Vejmelka stopped the first 22 shots he faced.

Nashville defenseman Roman Josi was a late scratch after participating in warmups with an upper-body injury.

Nashville, which wrapped up its final trip of the regular season, returns home for three more games and will host the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.

Utah wraps a three-game homestand on Saturday against the Carolina Hurricanes.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Utah Mammoth center Clayton Keller (9) shoots the puck to win the game against the Edmonton Oilers during overtime of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, April 7, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)