Rampage
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- Mar 19, 2019
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In 2020, Todd Gurley begins the four-year, $57.5 million contract extension he signed in August 2018. It’s prohibitive — and pointless — for the Rams to cut him.
So what do they do with him?
He had a career-low 223 carries, a career-low 857 yards and a career-low 1,064 yards from scrimmage in 2019.
“This year, he wasn’t [the same running back],” Rams General Manager Les Snead said Tuesday, via Lindsey Thiry of ESPN.
Snead clarified he was speaking in a statistical sense as Gurley rushed for 1,305 yards in 2017 and 1,251 last season.
“This year, he wasn’t, again, in terms of stats,” Snead said, via Rich Hammond of TheAthletic.com
Gurley averaged 16.9 touches per game and 3.8 yards per carry. He had only three runs of 20-plus yards, with a long of 25.
“That’s a fact,” Snead said when a reporter mentioned Gurley didn’t have as many long runs this season.
Gurley either has knee issues or he doesn’t. Coach Sean McVay denied all season Gurley was on a load management plan, and Gurley has denied he had a degenerative knee condition or arthritis.
Snead wouldn’t put Gurley’s drop off on injuries either.
“We didn’t run the ball this year as well as we have,” Snead said, via Thiry. “We definitely want to get back to being more efficient running the football.”
Snead insists Gurley still can “come back and get to a higher level in 2020.” But what choice do the Rams have other than believe that?
No one is trading for Gurley’s contract, and the Rams can’t afford cut him.
Snead answered “no” when asked if he regretted the contract he gave Gurley, which made Gurley the highest-paid running back at the time.
“I can see where you [might say], from an analytical standpoint, ‘OK, maybe you give him a contract and he didn’t have as good a statistical year,’” Snead said, via Hammond. “We believe you can’t necessarily CEO and lead from just a spreadsheet. That’s probably the age of ‘Madden’ football, and you can move people in fantasy. Those are human beings that gave a lot to this organization and deserve to be compensated.”