William Hayes to Re-Sign with Rams: Latest Contract Details, Comments, Reaction

The Los Angeles Rams are in the midst of a massive transition but managed to retain one of the team’s key defenders in William Hayes.  

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network first reported the deal right before the start of free agency, with Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports confirming the agreement. Josina Anderson of ESPN reported Hayes signed a three-year contract.

Hayes appeared in all 32 games for the Rams over the prior two seasons and made 20 starts. During the 2015 campaign he made 53 combined tackles, recorded 5.5 sacks and forced two fumbles.

The game that stood out most from last season and hinted at the type of potential Hayes has was Week 16’s 23-17 road victory over the NFC West rival Seattle Seahawks. Despite playing against the likes of elusive Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, Hayes managed to chase him down for three sacks and racked up nine combined tackles for the contest.

Los Angeles opted to release Chris Long along with linebacker James Laurinaitis. It’s now down two of the key leaders from the front seven and yet another edge player in Hayes, which diminishes the depth remaining behind star pass-rusher Robert Quinn.

Although the Rams still have he luxury of Aaron Donald manning the trenches, the losses of Long and Hayes would have been considerable blows to their rotation. The latter apparently was best to keep despite Long’s strong leadership intangibles.

He lined up on the edge in the Rams’ 4-3 scheme, but Hayes is listed at 278 pounds by NFL.com and has enough bulk to be a 3-4 DE or slide inside and thrive as an interior pass-rusher. That versatility had to be part of what led Hayes’ incumbent team to re-sign him.

No matter how he’s utilized moving forward, the Rams are getting a rather strong bang for their buck in retaining Hayes.

The 30-year-old has been overshadowed by superior Rams teammates including long, but he has a real chance to be an unquestioned starter in the coming years and may well play his best football as a result.

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