This article was published in the VC Star on March 9, 2026.
Jaylen Watson is returning to Southern California.
The former All-American cornerback at Ventura College has reportedly come to a free-agent agreement with the Los Angeles Rams.
The 27-year-old cornerback, who helped the Pirates reach the CCCAA state championship game in 2018, played in three Super Bowls in his first three NFL seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, winning Super Bowls LVII and LVIII.
Watson has agreed to a three-year, $51 million contract with the Rams, according to the NFL’s Tom Pelissero. The deal includes $34 million in guaranteed money.
Watson will join former Kansas City teammate Trent McDuffie with the Rams. McDuffie signed a four-year, $124 million extension after being traded to the Rams over the weekend.
Watson shared a photo of himself with McDuffie on social media Monday morning.
Watson was a seventh-round selection of the Chiefs in 2022, selected 243rd overall.
He had three interceptions, 24 pass breakups and 124 tackles in 53 regular-season games in his four-year tenure in Kansas City, adding two interceptions in 10 postseason games.
Watson was also a key leader on Ventura College’s 2018 CCCAA Southern California championship team, which fell in the CCCAA state championship to Laney College in Sacramento.
“You could tell he had the ‘It’ factor from Day 1,” VC head coach Steve Mooshagian told The Star in 2023. “He had swag, as everybody calls it.”