Last week, the Rams traded for Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie. This week, the Rams signed Chiefs cornerback Jaylen Watson in free agency.
The details have emerged as to the three-year, $51 million deal.
Here are the details:
1. Signing bonus: $12.74 million.
2. 2026 base salary: $2.25 million, fully guaranteed.
3. 2026 per-game active roster bonuses: $510,000 total.
4. 2027 offseason roster bonus: $4 million, guaranteed for injury.
5. 2027 base salary: $11 million of which is fully guaranteed at signing, and the remaining $2.99 million of which is guaranteed for injury at signing. The remaining injury guarantee becomes fully guaranteed on the third day of the 2027 league year.
6. 2027 per-game active roster bonuses: $510,000 total.
7. 2028 base salary: $16.49 million.
8. 2028 per-game active roster bonuses: $510,000 total.
The contract gives the Rams an out after one year, but they’d owe him $11 million. $6.99 million can be avoided by releasing him after one year.
The deal averages $17 million, with $15.5 million paid out in 2026, $18.5 million in 2027, and $17 million in 2028.
A seventh-round pick in 2022, Watson appeared in 15 regular-season games last season, with 15 starts.
Rams Clips
The Rams are doubling down on cornerbacks from the Chiefs as they reshape their defense for the 2026 season.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Jaylen Watson has agreed to terms with the Rams. It is a three-year deal in Los Angeles for Watson.
NFL Media reports that the deal is worth $51 million with $34 million in guaranteed money.
The Rams agreed to trade for Trent McDuffie last week, so the two corners will remain teammates in new uniforms.
Watson was the No. 8 player on PFT’s list of this year’s top free agents. The 2022 seventh-round pick played 53 regular season games and started 29 times over his four seasons in Kansas City. He had 178 tackles, four sacks, three interceptions, and 24 passes defensed while picking up a pair of Super Bowl rings with the Chiefs.
After agreeing to trade for Trent McDuffie, the Rams have now reached an agreement on a contract extension with the cornerback.
McDuffie has agreed to a four-year, $124 million extension that includes $100 million guaranteed, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The initial reported numbers indicate the new deal will make McDuffie the highest-paid cornerback in the league with an average annual value of $31 million in new money.
McDuffie, 25, spent his first four seasons with the Chiefs, winning a pair of Super Bowls with the club. He was an AP first-team All-Pro honoree in 2023.
McDuffie has recorded 34 passes defensed, eight forced fumbles, 5.5 sacks, and three interceptions in his career.
The trade to send him from the Chiefs to the Rams will become official this week with the start of the new league year.
Cornerback Trent McDuffie is set to officially join the Rams in a trade with the Chiefs this week and he could also have a new contract soon.
NFL Media reports that McDuffie and the Rams have made “significant progress” toward a long-term extension that would make him the league’s highest-paid cornerback. There is hope that the deal will be done in the near future.
Sauce Gardner of the Colts is currently at the top of the cornerback pay chart with an average annual salary of $30.1 million per year.
McDuffie is currently in the fifth year of his rookie deal and set to make $13.632 million for the 2026 season.
The Rams agreed to trade the 29th overall pick in this year’s draft along with 2026 fifth- and sixth-round picks and a 2027 third-round pick to Kansas City for McDuffie. The trade can become official at the start of the new league year on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the Cardinals will release Kyler Murray, the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft. Those inclined to bet on propositions like a player’s next team regard the Vikings as the clear favorites to sign him.
On DraftKings, Murray’s odds have moved from -110 to -295. The next team is the Jets at +350.
The Dolphins are at +550, with the Falcons at +650. The Browns are +800. The Steelers are +1300, the Colts are +1600. The Rams are +2000.
The offensive rookie of the year and two-time Pro Bowler had three solid seasons in Arizona. The next four seasons, which were marred by an ill-advised homework clause and a torn ACL suffered in December 2022, did not go nearly as well.
Making Murray more attractive is the possibility that he’ll do a one-year, $1.3 million contract, with the Cardinals paying him $35.5 million.
The first question is whether he wants to play right away, or whether he’s content to join a team like the Rams as a backup, with the goal of hitting the reset button in advance of 2027. Given his skills, why spend a season on the sideline? He should be looking to play now, with the goal of playing well enough that another big contract will come his way next March, if not sooner.
Early March is a time for plenty of roster moves, as teams begin to reshape their rosters — often dramatically.
The Rams, who struck a deal this week to trade for cornerback Trent McDuffie, have placed veteran cornerback Darious Williams on the reserve/retired list.
The move likely has occurred in lieu of the Rams releasing Williams, 32, from the final year of his current contract, which would have made him a free agent. He’s instead choosing to end his playing career.
Undrafted out of UAB in 2018, Williams initially signed with the Ravens. He appeared in three games as a rookie with the Ravens before being released in October. The Rams claimed him on waivers.
By 2020, he became a constant contributor on defense, with 10 starts. He participated in 81 percent of the defensive snaps during 16 regular-season games.
After the 2021 season, he signed a three-year deal in free agency with the Jaguars. Released after 2023, he returned to the Rams, on a three-year, $22.5 million deal.
His retirement clears $7.5 million in cap space. He was due to receive a $500,000 roster bonus next weekend.
Williams, a member of the Super Bowl LVI championship team, appeared in 104 regular-season games with 69 starts. His 10 postseason starts included Super Bowl LVI and, most recently, the 2025 NFC Championship.
The Rams traded for a defensive back earlier this week and they have reached a deal to hold onto one of their own on Friday.
NFL Media reports that the Rams have agreed to a new contract with safety Kam Curl ahead of free agency. It’s a three-year deal worth $36 million with maximum value of $39 million.
Curl joined the Rams in 2024 and has started all 38 regular season and playoff games he has played over the last two seasons. He played in every game for the team during the 2025 campaign and had 122 tackles, two interceptions, two sacks and a forced fumble in the regular season before posting 27 tackles and an interception in the playoffs.
He’ll join incoming cornerback Trent McDuffie in the 2026 secondary, but it remains to be seen if cornerback Cobie Durant will be back in Los Angeles as he remains set for free agency.
The Rams have reached an agreement with tight end Tyler Higbee on a two-year deal worth up to $8 million, according to multiple reports.
He was scheduled for free agency next week, but coach Sean McVay said earlier this week that the Rams wanted Higbee back if he wanted to keep playing.
Higbee, 33, has now gotten four contracts from the Rams since they made him a fourth-round pick in 2016. He is the franchise’s all-time leader among tight ends in receptions (386), yards (3,949) and touchdowns (27).
Higbee, though, has played a total of only 13 games the past two seasons combined. He tore an ACL in the Rams’ wild-card loss to the Lions in January 2024 and played only three games that season. He missed games in 2025 with an ankle injury.
He has 33 receptions for 347 yards and five touchdowns in the past two seasons combined.
The Chiefs have agreed to trade Trent McDuffie to the Rams when the new league year opens next week, but they weren’t the only NFC team pursuing a deal for the cornerback.
Sam McDowell of the Kansas City Star reports that the Giants were also engaged in conversations with the Chiefs about a deal. The Chiefs ultimately decided to move forward with the Rams’ offer of the 29th overall selection and three other picks.
The Giants have the fifth overall pick in April’s draft, but it’s not clear what they were willing to give up in exchange for McDuffie.
With that door now closed, the Giants will have to look elsewhere for help at cornerback. They could trade for another player or they could target McDuffie’s Chiefs teammate Jaylen Watson and others in free agency.
Rams General Manager Les Snead famously celebrated his team’s Super Bowl victory while wearing a shirt that said “Fuck them picks.” For the Rams, it’s not just a search, but a guiding philosophy in team building.
While most NFL GMs talk about the importance of building through the draft, Snead takes a different approach, frequently trading his first-round draft picks. Today he did it again, sending the Rams’ first-round pick to the Chiefs in a deal for cornerback Trent McDuffie. (The Rams still have the Falcons’ first-round pick this year as part of a trade they made with the Falcons last year.)
The Rams have now traded their first-round pick in nine of the last 10 drafts:
In 2017, the Rams didn’t have a first-round pick because they had traded it to the Titans the year before, to move up and take Jared Goff first overall in the 2016 NFL draft.
In 2018, the Rams traded their first-round pick to the Patriots for wide receiver Brandin Cooks.
In 2019, the Rams traded their first-round pick to the Falcons for more picks.
In 2020 and 2021, the Rams’ first-round picks went to the Jaguars in a trade for Jalen Ramsey.
In 2022 and 2023, the Rams’ first-round pick went to the Lions along with Goff in a trade for Matthew Stafford.
In 2024, the Rams actually used their first-round pick, on Jared Verse.
In 2025, the Rams traded their first-round pick to the Falcons for a package of picks that includes the Falcons’ first-round pick this year.
And in 2026, the Rams have now agreed to trade their first round pick to the Chiefs for McDuffie.
