Byram was born in
Thurrock,
Essex, After completing his secondary education at school, he signed scholar forms with the West Yorkshire club in 2010. During his first year as scholar, he played 'down' a year in the under-16 team to help his development as a footballer. He later progressed to his age group in the under-18s where he would become a regular in the team during his second year in 2011–12. As an integral part of the team, he scored several goals over the course of the season as the under-18s finished as runners-up to
Newcastle United in their divisional academy league. Following the end of the season in May 2012, he was one of five young players rewarded with their first professional contracts for their performances in the campaign.
Leeds United 2012–13 season in 2012 In the first friendly match of Leeds United's 2012–13 pre-season against
Farsley Celtic, Byram was one of a number of youngsters given an opportunity to impress manager
Neil Warnock when he lined up for the second half at
Throstle Nest. United recorded a convincing 5–2 victory over their city rivals. Byram remained as part of the first-team in pre-season after returning to the North; playing for an hour and scoring in the game away to
Preston North End. After impressing in pre-season, Byram was handed the number 25 shirt for the season ahead and he made his first team debut at
Elland Road in a 4–0 victory over
Shrewsbury Town on 11 August in the
League Cup. Byram retained his place in the first-team the following week in United's first league game of the campaign against
Wolverhampton Wanderers. He was part of a defence that kept a clean-sheet in a 1–0 victory over one of the early favourites for promotion and his performance out-wide against the
England international
Matt Jarvis won praise from several observers. He signed a new three-year contract with the West Yorkshire club two days after his league debut and only three months after signing his first professional contract with the club. Byram scored his first professional goal on 28 August in the 3–0 League Cup second-round victory over
Oxford United. Picking up the ball just outside the penalty area, he beat two Oxford defenders with his first and second touches before chipping the goalkeeper from inside the box in the 34th minute to give his team a 2–0 lead. An impressed Neil Warnock told reporters after the game that "Sam will probably never score another goal like that in his career". This goal was later voted as Leeds' Goal of the Year for 2012. His former manager in the under-18s,
Neil Redfearn, stated that Byram's rise through the ranks at the club served as a good example for other promising youngsters including his former teammates in the academy side, Ross Killock,
Dominic Poleon and Simon Lenighan. On 2 October, he scored his first league goal for Leeds in a 2–2 draw away to
Bolton Wanderers, heading in a cross from
El Hadji Diouf. An away match at Leicester City on 5 March saw young Byram score his third goal for Leeds in a 1–1 draw. After his impressive form for Leeds linked him with
Premier League interest, Byram signed a new contract with Leeds on 26 January 2013, to extend his stay at the club until 2016. He scored his second league goal for the club on 6 March, in a 1–1 draw away at
Leicester City, and followed this up with the equaliser in another 1–1 draw, at home to
Peterborough United. On 26 April 2013, Byram won the
Yorkshire Evening Post Player of the Season award with 99% of the vote. On 9 August,
Southampton manager
Ronald Koeman confirmed that Leeds had rejected a bid of £4.5 million to sign Byram. On 18 March 2015, Byram scored for Leeds United against
Fulham in a 3–0 away victory. On 9 April, after rumoured Premier League interest in Byram and teammates
Lewis Cook,
Charlie Taylor and
Alex Mowatt, head coach Neil Redfearn challenged Leeds United's owners to keep a hold of their homegrown talents. On 2 May 2015, Byram was one of five players nominated for the Fans Player of the Year Award at Leeds United's official end of 2014–15 season awards ceremony, but lost out to eventual winner Alex Mowatt. Byram was also nominated for Young Player of the Year Award, but missed out on the Young Player of the Year award to Lewis Cook.
2015–16 season , January 2016 Byram started the pre-season for Leeds playing as a
right forward in new manager
Uwe Rösler's 4–3–3 formation. On 31 July 2015, Rösler revealed that despite speculation linking Byram to Premier League clubs, that he was not looking to sell the player and that he was an important player for the club. On 12 August 2015, Byram missed a penalty in a penalty shootout against
Doncaster Rovers in the League Cup, with Leeds losing 4–2 on penalties after a 1–1 draw. On 22 September 2015, Byram was criticised by Leeds owner
Massimo Cellino who revealed he was "deeply offended" and "hurt" that Byram had not signed a new contract with the club. The
Yorkshire Evening Post reported that the contract offer from Cellino to Byram was actually a reduction on his existing wage on a long-term deal. On 5 December 2015, Bryam turned down a further contract offer, with the offer being just a one-year extension, however parity of his current wage. On 17 December 2015, Byram scored a brace in the match against
Wolverhampton Wanderers to seal Leeds' 3–2 win. On 27 December, Byram scored in the match against
Nottingham Forest to end the match at 1–1. On 5 January 2016, Byram was named Championship Player of the Month for December 2015 after scoring three goals and making assists throughout the month. After being subject to enquiries from Premier League clubs, on 7 January 2016 Leeds manager
Steve Evans revealed that he wanted to keep Byram at the club but that club owner Massimo Cellino had advised the enquiries had not been concrete enough for a move to happen. Byram left Leeds in January 2016. He had played 143 games in all competitions for them, scoring 10 goals.
West Ham United 2015–16 season Byram signed for Premier League club
West Ham United on a four-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee on 20 January 2016. He made his West Ham debut as a 13th-minute substitute for the injured
Carl Jenkinson on 23 January in a 2–2 draw against Manchester City. In his post-match interview, manager
Slaven Bilić revealed that Byram had not been in the matchday squad but was a late inclusion following an injury to
James Tomkins.
2016–17 season On 29 July 2016, Byram made his first start and appearance of the season in a 2–1 defeat against Slovenian
Domžale in the first leg of the
UEFA Europa League third qualifying round tie.
Nottingham Forest loan On 10 August 2018, Byram joined
Nottingham Forest on loan for the remainder of the 2018–19 season. He made his debut for Forest on 14 August in the first round of the
2018–19 EFL Cup against
Bury. The game finished 1–1 after 90 minutes with Forest going through to the second round 10–9 on penalties, one of which Byram scored for Forest.
Norwich City On 16 July 2019, Byram joined
Norwich City on a four-year deal for a reported £750,000. On 17 September 2022, Byram scored his first goal for Norwich when a shot from
Teemu Pukki deflected off him and into the goal. On 5 May 2023, Norwich announced that Byram would leave the club at the end of the season following the expiry of his contract. Following Byram's release, he made three pre-season appearances for former club Leeds United ahead of the 2023–24 season.
Return to Leeds United On 5 August 2023, Byram re-joined Leeds United, signing a contract until June 2024. Byram scored his first goal since returning to Leeds on 23 September 2023, a header in Leeds' 3–0 win over
Watford. In June 2024, Byram's contract at Leeds was extended for a further year. Byram scored his only goal of the
2024–25 Championship season in the 10th minute of a 3–0 win against
Luton Town on 27 November 2024. On 3 May 2025, Byram won
The Championship title with Leeds United following a 2–1 victory over
Plymouth Argyle at
Home Park. His contract with Leeds expired at the end of June 2025. However, on 8 July he signed a new contract for the duration of the
2025–26 season. ==International career==