{"id":717249,"date":"2026-01-30T19:29:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T19:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/717249\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T19:29:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T19:29:18","slug":"rams-byron-young-extension-complicated-with-verse-fiske-deals-looming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/717249\/","title":{"rendered":"Rams\u2019 Byron Young extension complicated with Verse, Fiske deals looming"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Byron Young is one of several players the Los Angeles Rams can extend this offseason, and his case will be especially complicated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The third-year Pro Bowler led the Rams in sacks (12), QB hits (29) and tackles for loss (12) in 2025. <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NFLPlus\/status\/2011226757119070370?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet\" rel=\"nofollow\">According to NFL Plus<\/a>, Young recorded a sack on 22.2% of his pressures this season, which was tied for the ninth-highest pressure -to-sack conversion rate among all edge rushers. Additionally, he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/teams\/ram\/2025.htm\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">finished fifth in combined tackles<\/a> behind Nate Landman, Kamren Curl, Omar Speights and Kamren Kinchens.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">So, why isn\u2019t re-signing him a no-brainer, then?<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Well, in case you\u2019ve somehow forgotten, Puka Nacua is also eligible for an extension this offseason, and his contract will be EXPENSIVE. Young and Nacua weren\u2019t first-rounders, so they don\u2019t have a fifth-year option, hence they\u2019re eligible early.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Other members of the 2023 draft class will be eligible too, including Kobie Turner and Steve Avila. What the Rams do with those two will also factor into how the front office handles Young and Nacua, and vice versa. Keeping the Young-Nacua duo in Hollywood long-term will be L.A.\u2019s main focus.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">However, it gets more complicated for Young since Jared Verse and Braden Fiske will be eligible for deals next offseason. The Rams will have to make some tough choices about who to extend or not of its young core. Having several key pieces to extend is a good problem to have, yet it will ultimately become a nightmare for the organization these next two offseasons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Los Angeles would be wise to extend Young because of his consistent production alone this season. Plus, he\u2019s one of the few edge rushers in the league who has the breakaway speed to rival the Packers\u2019 Micah Parsons. Not saying he\u2019s worth breaking the bank like Green Bay did for Parsons, but his natural football IQ and speed would be difficult to replace.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">ESPN\u2019s Dan Graziano <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/47769172\/2026-nfl-offseason-extension-contract-predictions-lions-texans-rams-falcons-cowboys#lar\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">predicted in his Jan. 30 column<\/a> that Young will sign a four-year, $145 million deal with $72 million guaranteed. He added this about the Rams\u2019 contract predicament:<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1teeyfa8 ls9zuh1\">\u201cI cannot rule out the possibility that [Young] ends up getting his extension from a different team. The people in the Rams\u2019 front office are extremely good at what they do, and I don\u2019t doubt their ability to keep the gang together if they want. But the salary cap makes roster-building an exercise in resource allocation, and teams generally don\u2019t like to commit too much to any one position group at the expense of the others.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Re-signing Young is one of the easiest decisions the Rams can make this offseason, aside from extending Nacua, of course. Although as we\u2019ve seen, his case is likely about to get complicated, so buckle up, as we might be in for a bumpy offseason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Byron Young is one of several players the Los Angeles Rams can extend this offseason, and his case&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":717250,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2079],"tags":[7,1014,58,4200,4800,2444,2611,6,424],"class_list":{"0":"post-717249","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-rams","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-los-angeles","10":"tag-los-angeles-rams","11":"tag-los-angeles-rams-news","12":"tag-los-angeles-rams-free-agency","13":"tag-losangeles","14":"tag-losangelesrams","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-rams"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115985708771030416","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=717249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/717250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=717249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=717249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=717249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}