The Los Angeles Rams came into this offseason knowing they wouldn’t be able to go on a spending spree. They had bloated contracts to manage, limited cap space and several starters hitting free agency.
They did their best to retain as many players as possible, re-signing Austin Blythe, Michael Brockers and Andrew Whitworth. But they did also lose Dante Fowler Jr. and Cory Littleton. After some cap management that involved cutting Todd Gurley and Clay Matthews, as well as restructuring the contracts of Jared Goff and Rob Havenstein, the Rams no longer have the worst cap situation in the NFL.
That’s because Gurley’s contract officially came off the books on June 2, since he was designated a post-June 1 cut. As a result, the Rams gained another $5.5 million in cap space, though part of Gurley’s dead cap hit will also land on the Rams’ cap in 2021.
So where do the Rams stand now? According to Over the Cap, they have $5.39 million in cap space with the only unaccounted for contract being Morgan Fox’s. That puts the Rams 28th in the NFL in total cap space heading into the 2020 season, ahead of the Patriots, Bucs, Chiefs and Cowboys.
The Rams have several players with large cap hits in the upcoming season, led by Jared Goff and Aaron Donald. Goff’s cap hit will be $28.8 million in 2020, while Donald’s will be an even $25 million. Jalen Ramsey is third at $13.7 million, though that could change if the Rams sign him to a contract extension.
The front office did well to manage the cap in free agency, finding work-arounds by keeping players’ cap hits low in 2020. Andrew Whitworth’s cap hit is only $6.67 million, as is Leonard Floyd’s. A’Shawn Robinson’s is only $4.4 million, while Brockers’ is a tiny $3.83 million.
The trade-off is that their cap hits will be significantly higher down the road, and in Floyd’s case, even if he’s not on the roster in 2021. But with the Rams’ current cap situation, they didn’t have much of a choice.
Los Angeles doesn’t have many options left when it comes to freeing up cap space this offseason. Sure the team could cut Robert Woods and Troy Hill to save more than $3.5 million each, but that’s not going to happen. No other player can be cut to save more than $3 million in cap space besides those two.
The roster that you see right now for the Rams isn’t going to change much before the regular season starts. Sure, players buried on the depth chart will be cut before the 53-man roster is set, but don’t expect any splashes from L.A. in the near future.
[vertical-gallery id=634784]