Ram Digest

Gurley Effect: Rams Created NFL RB Market Problem?

Should NFL running backs be pointing their fingers at former Los Angeles Rams' star Todd Gurley after struggling to find long-term contracts?

Isaiah DeAnda Delgado

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This week prompted outrage as Pro Bowl running backs (Saquon Barkley, Tony Pollard, Josh Jacobs) in some of the NFL's biggest markets (New York, Dallas, Las Vegas) failed to successfully negotiate long-term contracts. Are the Los Angeles Rams somehow to blame?

In 2015, the Rams drafted Georgia running back Todd Gurley at No. 10 in the NFL Draft, making him the first running back to be selected in the first round since Trent Richardson went to the Cleveland Browns third overall in 2012. At the time college football was marketing “The Resurrection of The Running Back,” players carrying Gurley’s torch included Derrick Henry, Ezekiel Elliott, Christian McCaffrey, and Dalvin Cook.

Unfortunately, that renaissance period was short-lived. Despite those eventual NFL Pro Bowlers, college football has had just one running back win the Heisman since Gurley went to the NFL (Henry at Alabama in 2015). Meanwhile, the same number of receivers have won the coveted college trophy (Devonta Smith at Alabama 2021), something that, in hindsight, is indicative of a new era of football.

By 2017, Gurley had the city of L.A. feeling good about going against the grain. He made an All-Pro team in two out of his three seasons, so the Rams extended Gurley's contract in 2018, giving him a four-year deal worth $57.5 million with $45 million guaranteed and a $21 million signing bonus.

Today, Gurley’s $14.375 million average salary from that contract should rank third among running backs in 2023, and he should be entering his contract year in Los Angeles. Instead, Gurley’s looked at as a cautionary tale.

After inking his massive extension, Gurley had arguably his best season with 21 touchdowns and leading the Rams to the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, he was never the same after that year, as a knee injury deteriorated him into a decoy in the Super Bowl and beyond.

Following L.A.’s loss, it immediately drafted Darrell Henderson. The Rams then cut Gurley the next season at only 25 years old to avoid paying the injured running back an additional $10.5 million. They also drafted another running back, Cam Akers. Gurley signed with the Atlanta Falcons in 2020 and played his final season in the NFL after failing to eclipse a thousand yards from scrimmage for the first time in his career.

Though many may have believed that Gurley’s career was an isolated, sad story, its ripple effects have since been felt in the league. Organizations are now so fearful of signing a running back to a long-term contract that could go down to an injury that teams like the Giants, Cowboys, and Raiders are instead Franchise Tagging elite rushers.

The players that once followed Gurley’s success in college are now witnessing the cruelty of the modern NFL, just as he did a few years ago. Elliott went from being well-fed in Dallas to begging for scraps in the free agency market; alongside him is Cook, who the Minnesota Vikings cut. McCaffrey went from being the highest-paid running back and face of the Carolina Panthers franchise to being traded to the San Francisco 49ers for less than a first-rounder. Henry was an Offensive Player of the Year with the Tennessee Titans that turned into a rumored trade piece.

All of those players are still under 30, including Gurley.

With Gurley's successor, Akers, having injury concerns himself and entering the final year of his rookie contract, it will be interesting to see how the organization treats him in 2024.

You can follow Isaiah DeAnda Delgado on Twitter and Instagram @IsaiahDDelgado.

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Isaiah DeAnda Delgado
ISAIAH DEANDA DELGADO

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