The NFL rewards players who outperform their draft position and earn significant playing time in their first three seasons, and four Rams players are earning raises in 2020 as a result. That’s done with Proven Performance Escalators, which players drafted in the third round or later can qualify for.
In order to earn the PPE, players either have to play 35% of their team’s snaps (offense or defense) in two of their first three years, or play at least 35% of the total snaps over the course of their first three seasons.
For 2020, these PPEs go to players drafted in 2017. The Rams nailed that draft class and have gotten key contributions from players selected that year, primarily with Cooper Kupp and John Johnson. Josh Reynolds and Samson Ebukam have also played key roles in the last three years and all three qualify for PPEs in 2020.
Kupp has played 63.7% of the snaps in his career, with Johnson playing 65.9%. Both players missed significant time in the last two years due to injury, each landing on IR. Ebukam was a starter in 2018 and has played 50.7% of the defensive snaps, while Reynolds has played 41.9%.
All four players will see their salaries increase in 2020, and not by an insignificant amount. Their base salaries will rise to the lowest restricted free agent tender amount in 2020, which is projected to be $2.144 million, according to Over The Cap.
Here’s how much each player’s base salary was set to be in 2020 before earning PPEs.
- Kupp: $961,169
- Johnson: $775,577
- Reynolds: $735,000
- Ebukam: $735,000
This will have an impact on the salary cap for the Rams, costing the team about $4.6 million more than originally expected. Of course, the Rams knew these raises were coming, so it’s not as if this is a surprise to Les Snead and the front office. If the salary cap is $200 million in 2020, the Rams will have about $21 million in cap space after these raises take effect.
All four players will also be free agents in 2021.
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