The Rams big free agent tight end signing of 2024 had a rough first season
Colby Parkinson made over $7 million last year and that’s about the only thing that went right for the sixth-year tight end. The L.A. Rams gave Parkinson a three-year, $22.5 million contract in 2024 free agency as a hopeful replacement for Tyler Higbee, with $15.5 million guaranteed, but Parkinson looked like anything but a future starter.
The former Seattle Seahawk started the first eight games of the season while Higbee recovered from a torn ACL and in that time he posted:
- 23 catches
- 214 yards
- 0 TD
- 30.6 yards per game
Mind you that in his eighth start, Parkinson had no targets or catches.
Over a month before Higbee could return, Sean McVay already made the switch from Parkinson to Davis Allen. In Allen’s first start, he caught 5 passes for 34 yards. He had just two targets over the rest of the entire season, until catching a touchdown pass against the Minnesota Vikings in the wild card round.
After losing his job as a starter, Parkinson posted these numbers over the final nine games:
- 7 catches
- 80 yards
- 1 TD
- 9 yards per game
Just like Allen, Parkinson showed up with a touchdown catch in the playoffs, but his came in the second round.
Once again it was Higbee who proved why he’s held this job for so long. In just three games, Higbee had 66 yards and two touchdowns. In the playoffs, he had 12 catches for 112 yards and one touchdown.
At 32, Tyler Higbee continues to ward off every single tight end who the Rams have added to the roster since 2016.
So why is Parkinson still on the roster? There’s no real financial incentive to cut him.
Parkinson’s guarantees
The Rams paid a $2.5 million roster bonus to Parkinson and they are almost locked into his $9.8 million cap hit in 2025. Cutting him would only save $3.1 million against the 2025 cap with $6.6 million in dead cap.
Quite possibly the team’s TE3, Parkinson has the 15th-highest cap hit for ALL tight ends in the NFL.
Higbee’s is 17th.
Perhaps the Rams will still make a move with Parkinson and are just waiting to see who they get in the draft. Davis Allen is the only tight end who the Rams have drafted in the last four years.
That seems bound to change in a deep tight end class in 2025.
With another tight end added to the roster in the draft, the Rams could end up pitting a three-way competition, or just a two-way competition between Allen and Parkinson for the final spot. Parkinson has a chance to win a job in camp, but he already lost the opportunity to not have to compete.