William Hayes (American football)

A native of High Point, North Carolina, Hayes is a 2003 graduate of T. Wingate Andrews High School where he was a member of the Raiders' Mid State 2A Conference Championship football team in 2003.

He redshirted in his first season at Winston-Salem State. Before he attended Winston-Salem State, he was also redshirted at Barber–Scotia College before the school lost accreditation.

In 2004, he appeared in five games for the Rams, starting in two, making eight total tackles. He tallied three solo tackles and five assisted tackles. He recorded one tackle for a loss of one yard and broke up one pass.

In 2005, he appeared in three games for the Rams, starting two making seven total tackles with four tackles for a loss of five total yards.

In 2006, he became one of the team's top defensive players, playing in all 11 games with nine starts after he appeared in all 11 games last season and made 57 tackles with (25 solo), leading the team in sacks with 6.5 yards and total tackles for a loss with 13 for a loss. He even added an interception and also added four pass breakups along with two quarterback hurries and two fumble recoveries.

In 2007, he appeared in 11 games for the Rams with 11 starts and recorded 78 tackles, tallied 46 solo tackles and 32 assisted tackles with 19 tackles for loss, and a team-high 8.5 sacks. He also forced a team-high seven fumbles and recovered four fumbles, one of which he returned six yards for a touchdown versus Delaware State University, one of his two touchdowns on the season he recovered another fumble in the Rams' last game of the season and returned it 16 yards for a go-ahead touchdown. He hurried opposing quarterbacks 12 times and broke up three passes on the season.

Hayes helped his draft stock considerably when he was clocked at 4.59 in the 40-yard dash at his pro day at Wake Forest University in March 2008.

Hayes was selected by the Titans in the fourth round of the 2008 NFL draft.^[1] He signed a minimum salary contract over the next four years and a $500,000 signing bonus totaling $1.8 million. In his rookie season he made 13 tackles and one sack as a reserve defensive end for the Titans. Once Jeff Fisher benched veteran starter Jevon Kearse in Week 10, Hayes became the starter.

Hayes signed a one-year, $900,000 contract with the St. Louis Rams on April 6, 2012.^[2] Hayes played backup defensive end and also played defensive tackle in Rams nickel defense in 2012 and was third on team with 7 sacks.

On March 12, 2013, he signed a three-year, $10.5 million contract extension that includes $5.75 million in guarantees.^[3] On March 9, 2016, Hayes re-signed with the Rams to a three-year $21 million contract.

On March 9, 2017, Hayes was traded to the Miami Dolphins along with a seventh round draft pick in the 2017 NFL draft for Miami's sixth round selection in the draft.^[4] He was placed on injured reserve on November 28, 2017, with a back injury.^[5]

On March 14, 2018, Hayes signed a one-year contract extension with the Dolphins.^[6]

In Week 3 of the 2018 season, Hayes suffered a torn ACL while sacking Raiders' quarterback Derek Carr, and was ruled out for the season.^[7][8]