Leonard Floyd agrees to four-year, $64 million deal to stay with Rams

Leonard Floyd’s change of scenery did him plenty of good in 2020, and he’s being paid accordingly.

The edge rusher has agreed to terms on a four-year deal to remain with the Rams, the team announced Monday. NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Floyd’s new deal with Los Angeles is worth $16 million per year, meaning he’ll be paid $64 million over the course of the contract.

Floyd was largely underwhelming during his time with the Chicago Bears, who spent the ninth-overall pick of the 2016 NFL Draft on him, but never saw the return they anticipated, declining his fifth-year option and allowing him to walk west after the 2019 season. The Rams ended up ecstatic that the Bears let him go, because Floyd turned into an edge-rushing monster in his first season in Los Angeles, recording a career-high 10.5 sacks, 55 tackles (11 for loss), and a forced fumble in 16 games, helping the Rams to a No. 1 finish in yards allowed per game and No. 2 ranking in sacks with 53.

Floyd’s breakout campaign landed him 24th on Gregg Rosenthal’s Top 101 Free Agents list, with Rosenthal calling Floyd a “relatively safe pickup.”

In a transformation similar to that of Dante Fowler, Floyd’s new home allowed him to blossom. A year after Fowler fetched a three-year deal at $15 million per year with Atlanta, Floyd earns a slightly better contract to stay in Southern California. Now, the Rams are hoping that’s just the first bit of a beautiful future with Floyd remaining on the same defensive front as all-world tackle Aaron Donald.

Time will tell whether the money — which places Floyd among the likes of Melvin Ingram, Chandler Jones, and Za’Darius Smith in annual average salary — is worth it, but as long as Floyd remains out there with Donald and the Rams’ new defense doesn’t tear down what had been built up by the since-departed Brandon Staley, it’s a logical move.

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