Over the past couple of seasons, the Los Angeles Rams haven’t been a team that willfully hands out contract extensions. There is a reason why the Rams currently have three non-rookie players under contract for 2027 — Alaric Jackson, Poona Ford, and Kyren Williams. The Rams front office has prioritized the contracts of core players such as Matthew Stafford and done deals when they’ve had to as in the case of Kevin Dotson. Aside from that, the primary focus for building the team has been through the draft and the Rams have done a great job of doing that.
However, when teams draft well, rookie contracts only last four years. At some point, the bill comes due along with the benefit of the rookie deal. In one sense, that means that the Rams have drafted well, but it also means more expensive contracts are looming. That was the case when the Rams extended Williams over the summer and there are other players that they will have to make decisions on over the next few months.
Over the next few seasons, the Rams are going to have to make decisions on who is actually important to what the team wants to be moving forward. While the Rams have cap space, there are still limitations and they won’t be able to extend everybody. Next year, Puka Nacua becomes eligible for a new contract along with Kobie Turner and Byron Young. Steve Avila can be added to that mix as well. Jared Verse still has time, but the Rams will need to plan ahead for him. That doesn’t mention other potential contract extensions such as Rob Havenstein or, potentially, Braden Fiske.
There may have been some controversy over bringing back Williams due to him being a running back and the stigma around paying that position. Williams may have his flaws, but he’s clearly important to what the Rams do on offense. At the end of the day, for the Rams, extending Williams made sense.
Another player who is due for an extension and may be controversial is Rams safety Quentin Lake. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, “Week 1 can create urgency for contract extensions that teams or players slow-played over the past four months.” Per Fowler, Lake is a player that he is watching as someone who could soon get an extension.
Much like Williams, the question with Lake isn’t whether or not he’s a good player. However, it is worth wondering whether Lake is a player that the Rams should give an extension given some of the other names listed previously.
The Rams have typically been a team that doesn’t pay safeties and have an ecosystem to draft and develop the position. It’s a reason why the Rams didn’t pay John Johnson III after 2020. While they signed Kam Curl as a free agent last year, his cap number has never been more than $5 million. Simply put, the Rams have done a great job drafting and developing players. Nick Scott was a seventh-round pick in 2019 who became a key starter. The same can be said about Jordan Fuller in 2020 who was a sixth-round pick and team captain. Neither Fuller nor Scott were brought back when their rookie contracts expired.
That doesn’t mention that the Rams have been able to find undrafted free agents such as Jaylen McCollough. They also have players developing on the practice squad in Nate Valcarcel and Tanner Ingle.
It’s certainly possible that the Rams are prioritizing the position more under defensive coordinator Chris Shula. The Rams utilized a lot of three safety looks last season, specifically in dime packages with McCollough as a dime linebacker. Because of that, it could make sense to invest in the position more than they have in the past. Still, it is a position that the Rams have done a great job developing.
The conversation around Lake really does come down to whether or not he is a player worth extending. Lake isn’t going to get $20 million per year like the top safeties in the NFL. However, Spotrac currently has his market value at $12.8 million per year. That would put Lake right behind Talanoa Hufanga as the 13th-highest paid safety in the NFL.
While that’s not necessarily expensive, when teams start to pay mid-level players as the Rams have done with Williams and potentially Lake, it does make the hard decisions harder. It leaves less money for more arguably important contracts down the line.
Does it make more sense for the Rams to bring back Lake for $12.8 million or save that money for 2027 when Nacua, Dotson, Young, Avila, and potentially Emmanuel Forbes all become due for extensions? That especially bodes true at a position that the Rams have had success developing.
Lake is clearly someone that the Rams value as he was named a team captain for a reason. However, they’ve allowed other safeties such as Fuller and Johnson III to walk in the past. Lake was still only the 39th-ranked safety via PFF last season and ranked 46th in coverage. Even from Weeks 7-17 when the Rams secondary turned a corner, Lake only graded as the 22nd ranked safety. For a player that the Rams use in the slot, Lake’s numbers are good, but not great. His 1.1 yards allowed per snap ranked 11th out of 36 qualifying players from Weeks 7-17.
This isn’t necessarily to say that the Rams absolutely should not sign Lake to an extension. However, doing so before the 2025 season wouldn’t make sense. The Rams would be better off waiting until after the season and handling Lake the same way they did Alaric Jackson last offseason. There shouldn’t be a rush to get Lake’s deal done. Waiting on Lake isn’t going to cost the Rams $5 million per year in negotiations in the same way that waiting on Nacua will if they don’t get that deal done a year early.
Over the next few years, the Rams are going to have to make some difficult decisions on players. After extending Kyren Williams in August, Quentin Lake is the next in line.
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