Los Angeles Rams release Todd Gurley

The Los Angeles Rams had a choice: Give Todd Gurley his $10.5 million guaranteed by keeping him on the roster, or trade/cut him.

They chose to cut him.

At just 25 years old, Gurley is now a free agent just two years removed from signing a four-year, $60 million contract extension.

The 2017 Offensive Player of the Year, two-time First-Team All-Pro selection, and three-time Pro Bowler had a career-low in carries (223), yards (857), and yards per carry (3.8) in 2019. His DYAR and DVOA were both in the 20s range out of 45 qualified running backs. This was following previous offseason reports that he had arthritis in his left knee, the same knee in which he tore his ACL while in college.

Back when they were still in St. Louis, the Rams took Gurley at #10 overall, which in itself was poorly thought out. An Offensive Rookie of the Year 2015 gave way to a horrendous 2016 in which he barely cracked three yards per carry, after which the Rams fired Jeff Fisher and brought in Sean McVay. Gurley was advertised as the face of the Rams offense once McVay brought the team into the 21st century, but he was objectively not good this past season and his future has been in doubt for quite some time.

By the way, if you ever wanted to know the perils of paying your running backs big money, three of the top five entering this offseason have now either been cut or traded.

And don’t forget that the Rams will now have dead money on the books for the next two seasons...