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The Los Angeles Rams took care of an important order of business on Thursday when they signed Quentin Lake to a three-year extension, locking in one of their most important players for the next few seasons. Lake’s rise from being a sixth-round pick in 2022 to a team captain and the 2024 defensive signal caller has been impressive to watch, making his $42 million extension an easy one to be excited about.
It's safe to say his teammates were thrilled to hear the news. During his media session on Thursday, Lake talked about the awesome reactions in the locker room, calling it a “pretty special moment” after putting pen to paper.
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“I think the coolest thing about it was seeing the reaction from my teammates,” he said. “When you have people yelling and screaming, congratulating you, coming up saying, ‘Well deserved,' it makes you feel good. I'm very thankful of you guys, too, to be a part of such a great organization. It’s such a loving organization and like a family. My teammates are like my brothers. It was amazing. It was a pretty special moment.”
Jared Verse was one of the guys in the locker room who was there to congratulate Lake on his new deal. He says the entire room celebrated with Lake, high-fiving the defensive leader.
“We all found out in the locker room,” Verse said. “Everybody got up and started high-fiving him, loving on him and giving him dap-ups. The amount of work that he puts in, what he means to our defense and to see him get that payday that everyone wants and everyone talks about, it means a lot.”
Lake’s impact on the defense is unquestioned, and his absence has certainly been felt since he went down with an elbow injury in Week 11. But the way he leads players off the field is what makes him such a well-liked teammate.
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Verse shed a little light on that, describing what makes Lake special.
“Not just the things he can do on the field, the defense that he can read, the plays he can make,” he said. “It’s the type of person he is. That's somebody that outside of here, he'll text people if they're having a hard time, make sure you're having a good day or see if anything’s wrong with you, he's the first to congratulate you, he's the first one to suffer with you. That’s somebody that I don't genuinely just consider a teammate, that’s somebody that I consider a friend.”
The Rams always try to target and reward not just good players, but good people. And Lake checks both of those boxes. He’s the right kind of guy for the team, similar to Kyren Williams and Nate Landman, who were both extended this year, too.
There’s a reason the Rams’ culture is one of the best in football, and it’s because of players like Lake.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Quentin Lake contract: Rams teammates react to new deal
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