The Rams are keeping their longest-tenured player in the fold.
On Thursday, the Rams agreed to terms with tight end Tyler Higbee on a two-year contract, according to people with knowledge of the situation. The people requested anonymity because the deal has not been announced.
Terms were not disclosed but the deal is worth $8 million, according to multiple reports
Higbee, 33, was a fourth-round draft pick by the Rams in 2016, and he is the leader of a tight end group that includes Colby Parkinson, Davis Allen and Terrance Ferguson, a 2025 second-round pick. Coach Sean McVay relied heavily on the group last season when he implemented a scheme that featured multiple tight end sets to protect quarterback Matthew Stafford, improve run blocking and complement star receivers Puka Nacua and Davante Adams.
An ankle injury limited Higbee to 10 games. He caught 25 passes for 281 yards and three touchdowns.
Higbee has 386 receptions for 3,949 yards and 27 touchdowns in 138 games. He has been part of two Rams’ Super Bowl teams, including the 2021 team that won Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium. Higbee was limited to three games in 2024 after he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament at the end of the 2023 season.
Veteran offensive lineman Rob Havenstein retired last month, making Higbee the team’s longest-tenured player. McVay and general manager Les Snead had been waiting for Higbee to decide if he would be back for an 11th season.
“We’re giving him his time to be able to let him decide,” McVay told reporters on Tuesday, “but obviously if that’s something that he wants to do then we would be very interested in continuing that relationship with him.”
Higbee’s deal comes with the Rams on the verge of finalizing a trade for Chiefs All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie. Earlier, they re-signed offensive tackle David Quessenberry.
With the free-agent negotiation period starting Monday at 9 a.m. PDT, the Rams still have several players poised to hit the open market, including safety Kamren Curl, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, and cornerbacks Cobie Durant and Roger McCreary.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
