Rams lock up Jared Goff with 4-year extension

The Los Angeles Rams are locking up quarterback Jared Goff for the long-term with a four-year extension that will approach the largest guarantee in NFL history.

Jared Goff’s 2018 playoff performances may not have blown anyone away, but the Los Angeles Rams are banking on the 24-year-old building on a successful regular season and the growing pains that came with the team’s run to the Super Bowl.

As first reported by Sports Illustrated‘s Michael Silver, the Rams are close to agreeing to a four-year contract extension with their starting quarterback. ESPN‘s Adam Schefter reports the deal will lock him down for the next six seasons (through 2024), while NFL Network‘s Ian Rapoport adds that the deal is trending toward the largest guaranteed amount in NFL history.

Schefter later reported the extension would be worth $134 million over four years, including a record $110 million guaranteed. That puts his total contract value at $161 million over the next six seasons.

Whether Goff actually deserves such a designation is another matter entirely, but there’s no question about his importance to a high-powered offense that made football so fun last season.

En route to a 13-3 record and the No. 2 seed in the NFC, Goff threw for 4,688 yards (the second-highest season total in franchise history) and 32 touchdowns (third-most among all Rams quarterbacks, trailing only Kurt Warner). He was selected to his second straight Pro Bowl appearance as the quarterback of football’s second-highest scoring offense.

In the playoffs, however, is where that success dwindled. Goff threw for just 186 passing yards and zero touchdowns in the Rams’ Divisional Round victory over the Dallas Cowboys, and though he regrouped with a 297-yard, one-touchdown, one-interception performance in the NFC Championship, he and L.A.’s offense were smothered in the Super Bowl.

Facing the New England Patriots, the Rams found themselves on the wrong side of the lowest-scoring Super Bowl ever, losing 13-3. Goff completed 19 of his 38 passes for 229 yards, but threw zero touchdowns and one costly fourth quarter interception. There’s also no question having a running back like Todd Gurley and a receiving corp like the Rams’ makes life easier on the young signal-caller.

Even so, it was Goff’s first trip to the postseason and he’s a crucial piece to Sean McVay’s offense. This deal locks up a crucial part of the Rams’ young core and keeps their Super Bowl window open, even if it also limits their ability to build a potential powerhouse.