Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley agreed to a lucrative contract extension this week that will reset the market value for running backs. David Johnson, Ezekiel Elliott, and Le'Veon Bell will all be looking for massive deals within the next few years and Gurley's contract will probably be the starting point for negations.
Gurley said he is happy with the contract and he is happy that his deal will reset the market, and help other running backs get paid closer to what they deserve.
“I’m just happy to even be in a position to take the next step for us running backs,” Gurley said to Albert Breer of SI.com. “And to be able to get closer to what a receiver or a D-end makes, it’s pretty good for us. There are a lot of great running backs in the league, and their time will definitely come. And when it’s time for them to get paid, hopefully my part has played a role in it.”
Rams general manager Les Snead also admits that Le'Veon Bell could have had some implications on Gurley's deal if the Steelers would have been able to reach a deal. Bell and the Steelers weren't able to come to a deal so it was up to Gurley to set the market.
“Because we’re not the Steelers, and we’re not Le’Veon [Bell], you truly don’t know [what was offered there],” Rams GM Les Snead said over the phone a day after the Gurley deal was announced. “But that situation did have an affect, because if [Bell] had gotten something done, that’d be the standard. Since he didn’t, it was up to us to blaze the new standard.”
The Rams have expectations that are high this season and Gurley is going to have to have a big year and live up to the next expectations that come with his contract.