3 Rams players named among most underpaid at their position
This has been a huge help to the team's ability to continue being contenders in the NFL, but the team will soon have to make some serious decisions about which players to pay and which to move on from.
The first one up is running back Kyren Williams, who is going through contract negotiations with the team as he enters the final year of his rookie deal in 2025. Williams headlines the Rams' top contract-year players, but he was also named the most underpaid running back heading into this year by Bleacher Report's Alex Kay.
While the team has cycled through several high-usage rushers during the coach's eight-year tenure, Kyren Williams has put a stranglehold on the backfield over the last two seasons.
The Rams don't have any reason to change things up after the 24-year-old emerged as a bona fide Pro Bowler in just his second season. While he didn't make it back to the Pro Bowl in 2024, he still had a noteworthy campaign in which he posted career highs of 1,299 yards and 14 touchdowns on 316 totes.
With 31 touchdowns across his last 28 games, Williams is a scoring machine who has carved out his place among the NFL's best running backs. Expect the Rams to run him until the wheels fall off, which hopefully won't happen before he signs his second NFL contract.
As of now, Williams isn't even making $1 million per season. Players who haven't seen an NFL field yet—such as Ashton Jeanty ($9 million) and Omarion Hampton ($4.4 million)—are making far more on their new rookie deals.
Williams isn't the lone Rams player on this list. Puka Nacua was named the most underpaid receiver, while 2024 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Jared Verse was already named the most underpaid edge rusher in the league.
Nacua, like Williams, doesn't make much money because he was a fifth-round pick. That, plus is production, make him one of the most valuable contracts in the league right now.
Even though one would be hard-pressed to name even five receivers better than him going into the 2025 season, he only ranks No. 235 on the list of average annual receiver value due to his Day 3 draft position.
That means Nacua is making nearly 40 times less than Ja'Marr Chase ($40.3 million AAV). He may be far off the top of the earnings chart for now, but it's only a matter of time before he joins the receivers who are pocketing over $30 million per year.
Verse is in a slightly different boat, as he was a first-rounder in 2024 and makes $3.8 million annually. However, he's still outproducing his contract an insane rate.
Verse rates a mere 90th in contract value among edge-rushers, an incredibly low number given the on-field value he provided as a rookie.
Verse's presence helped stabilize a Rams pass-rushing unit that took a major blow in the form of Aaron Donald's retirement. While the Florida State product isn't a direct heir to the generational superstar, he'll be a key piece in the defensive trenches for years to come.
It will be interesting to see what the Rams do in the coming years. Williams' contract is up after the 2025 season, Nacua will be eligible in 2026 and Verse will surely command a sizable deal when his contract is up in 2027 (or 2028 if he is given the fifth-year extension).
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