Rams are in serious trouble with Todd Gurley

The Los Angeles Rams won’t say the truth about Todd Gurley, because they can’t.

They can’t say that Todd Gurley’s contract is looking increasingly like a disaster. Nor can they say that his knee is potentially on the permanent decline. They can’t say that if they knew what was coming, Gurley would have either been traded or allowed to walk in free agency.

None of this is Gurley’s fault — or the Rams’ fault — by the way. This is professional football, and guys get hurt. Especially running backs. Ask Gale Sayers. Ask Jamaal Charles. Now, ask Gurley.

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After playing sparingly in the NFC Championship Game and Super Bowl, Todd Gurley has had an entire offseason to rest his ailing knee. There have been reports that the former University of Georgia standout is dealing with arthritis, which if that’s the case, is devastating. In other words, it’s not going away. There’s no surgery to fix arthritis.

To combat the problem, Gurley is planning on playing the season at 218 pounds, down from the 230 pounds he played at in 2018. The Rams are also stating that in the 2019 season, he won’t be seen as the only runner, but the leader of a group which will all play, according to head coach Todd McVay.

“I want him to feel most comfortable. That’s the most important thing, what he feels he can most function at, being the all-purpose back he’s been and that’s where we’re at,” McVay told reporters. “So he says, ‘I’d rather play five, 10 pounds lighter,’ and he’s going to feel better about that, then that’s exactly what we’ll do. He’s earned the right to be able to tell us how he’s feeling with the give and take. As long as he’s got a why, which I know he does, we’re always receptive to those things.”

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Going into the season, Gurley has five seasons remaining on his contract with a whopping $64.35 left as cap hits throughout that period. Realistically, Los Angeles is paying Gurley at a minimum through the 2020 season, before eating cap penalties of $8.4 million in 2021 and $4.2 million the following year. The Rams would net all of Gurley’s $12.449 million in ’23.

It’s a sad situation for Gurley, the Rams and the NFL. Gurley is just 24 years old, and yet it appears the greatness we saw in past years is unlikely to reappear.

Perhaps Gurley is different, perhaps the diagnosis is wrong. Perhaps he gets the football version of miracle.

If he doesn’t, Gurley has the cushion of living out life as a very wealthy man. The Rams have no such comfort.