Tag: rams salary cap

Jared Goff on restructuring his contract: ‘I’m all for it’

Jared Goff would be open to restructuring his contract to help the Rams’ cap situation.

After a flurry of offseason moves that included trading Brandin Cooks, re-signing Andrew Whitworth and adding A’Shawn Robinson in free agency, the Los Angeles Rams have put themselves in a difficult situation financially. According to Over the Cap, the Rams are actually over the limit by $5.35 million, which means they’ll need to create some space one way or another.

The best option is to simply restructure Jared Goff’s contract, which would create the necessary cap room for the Rams. With an NFL-high cap hit of $36 million, the Rams have the chance to move money around and reduce that figure.

If the team were to go in that direction, Goff would have no complaints. He said on a conference call Wednesday that he’s open to restructuring his deal if it helps the Rams.

By restructuring, Goff wouldn’t be taking a pay cut. In fact, he’d get more money up front, likely in the form of a signing bonus. The Rams would then be able to spread that money out over the rest of his contract to lessen the blow in 2020.

Goff doesn’t have any say in the matter because there’s a clause written in his contract to allow the Rams to do this, so even if he was against the move, the Rams could do it anyway. But having him (and his mustache) on board is a plus.

It’s now up to the Rams to decide whether they want to restructure his deal, free up space this offseason and push money down the line in later years. GM Les Snead indicated last month that restructuring isn’t always a wise proposition, but that was before the Rams found themselves in their current cap predicament.

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Rams had to admit their mistakes to clear the books for 2021 free agents

The Rams’ decision to move on from Cooks and Gurley will pay off in the long run with a big free agent class coming up.

Sometimes, you just have to admit you were wrong. The Los Angeles Rams did that this offseason – not once, but twice. Less than two years after signing Brandin Cooks and Todd Gurley to lucrative extensions, the Rams moved on from both players.

First, they cut Gurley last month and took on $20.15 million in dead money spread across the next two seasons. Then this week, they traded Cooks to the Texans for a second-round pick, shedding his massive contract from their salary cap.

To use an example from Les Snead’s book of metaphors, if you look at these moves through a microscope instead of a telescope, they look terrible. With Gurley having a dead cap charge of more than $12 million in 2020, the Rams will pay $33.55 million for him and Cooks to be off the roster. That’s larger than any player’s cap hit in the NFL next season except for Jared Goff.

Furthermore, Cooks’ dead cap charge of $21.8 million will be the biggest ever for a single player. Gurley’s dead cap hit of $20.15 million was the second-most ever before the Cooks trade.

Nothing about those two tweets reflects well on the Rams and their front office. However, Snead often talks about looking at things through a telescope, too, with a wide view of the future.

By trading Cooks and cutting Gurley, the Rams clearly admitted the mistakes they made by signing them to extensions a year prematurely. They could’ve allowed Gurley to play out his rookie deal through 2019, which would’ve been far more cost-prohibitive than the approach they took. The same could be said about Cooks, allowing him to finish his first contract with the fifth-year option in 2018 and then tagged him in 2019.

Hindsight is always 20/20, but the Rams felt confident in both players and that backfired in a big way. But by admitting their mistakes, they’ve cleared the books in 2021 – an offseason that might be more important than the current one.

Next offseason, Jalen Ramsey, Cooper Kupp, John Johnson, Gerald Everett, Leonard Floyd, Troy Hill, Josh Reynolds and Samson Ebukam will all be free agents. As of now, the Rams have $156 million in cap liabilities next year. If the salary cap rises to $215 million as Over the Cap is projecting, Los Angeles will have more than $58 million in cap space.

That’s not nearly as much as the Colts ($130 million) or Chargers ($128 million), but it’d be enough to sign at least three or four of the aforementioned players. Snead has already said multiple times that Ramsey, Kupp and Johnson are all part of the team’s future plans, as they should be.

Gurley will have a dead cap charge of $8.4 million next year and Cooks’ has yet to be determined, but if it’s a post-June 1 designation, he’ll count another $13 million in 2021. Regardless, it’s less than both players’ cap hits were supposed to be in L.A. next year. Gurley was set to count $13.2 million in 2021 ($4.8 million savings) and Cooks’ cap hit was going to be $16.8 million ($3.8 million savings, potentially).

But moving on from both players, the Rams freed up cap space in 2021 in advance of the expected extensions for Ramsey, Kupp and Johnson. It wasn’t cost-effective for the upcoming season, but it will pay off in the long run.

Rams get passing grade from analysts for Brandin Cooks trade

Analysts from ESPN, The Athletic and others view this as a decent deal for the Rams.

The Rams and Texans struck a deal on Thursday night with Los Angeles sending Brandin Cooks and a 2022 fourth-round pick to Houston for a 2020 second-round pick. This wasn’t necessarily a financial move for the Rams, considering Brandin Cooks’ dead cap hit is $5 million more than it would’ve cost the team to keep him, but it did net them the No. 57 overall pick in a wide receiver-rich draft class.

As badly as this trade will hurt the Rams’ salary cap, it wasn’t necessarily a bad move to get out from under a bloated contract for a player with a history of concussions. Cooks was also coming off arguably the worst season of his career, so his stock was on the decline.

Still, it’s not a deal that greatly benefits the Rams in 2020.

Analysts across the media landscape don’t view it as a terrible decision by the Rams, giving them passing grades for the trade with Houston. Here’s a roundup of the marks Los Angeles got from ESPN, CBS Sports, Sporting News and The Athletic.

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell: B

… Given the Rams’ current situation, it’s easy to see how trading Cooks makes sense. Los Angeles was in a desperate cap situation and down its first-round picks in 2020 and 2021 after the Jalen Ramsey trade. Jared Goff‘s passer rating and QBR both declined without Cooks on the field. But as the team tried to find a Plan B for the 6-1 defensive front it saw early in the season and changed its running game, it began to seem like the Rams might operate best out of 12 personnel, which would put Tyler Higbee and Gerald Everett on the field and force the Rams to leave one of Cooks, Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods on the sidelines.

CBS Sports’ Jeff Kerr: C+

Kudos to the Rams for finding someone to take on Cooks’ contract, but the front office continues to mismanage their cap situation and could have made this deal weeks ago. The Rams failed to trade Cooks before March 15, giving him a $4 million roster bonus in his contract. Then they didn’t trade him before March 20, which fully guaranteed his 2020 salary of $8 million.

Sporting News’ Austin Anderson: B-

The Rams do benefit by now having four picks in the first three rounds of the 2020 draft; there, they can add young players on affordable four-year contracts. In addition, the team still has two good receivers in Robert Woods and Cooper Kupp, who is going into the last year of his rookie deal. Josh Reynolds stepped in well when Cooks and others went down with injuries last year; he’ll be a solid replacement as the third receiver. 

The Athletic’s Sheil Kapadia: C

If we look at this deal in isolation, given the circumstances, they at least got a nice return for Cooks. But we have to account for the big picture. The Rams are taking a cap hit of $21.8 million for a player who is not even going to be on their roster.

They’re digging their way out of a massive hole by acquiring draft capital and creating cap space for 2021, but the Rams were the ones who created the problem in the first place. They do not deserve any gold stars here.

Les Snead and the Rams front office as a whole have made a mess of their salary cap situation, and this is just the latest example of that. Their deals with Todd Gurley and Cooks in 2018 were costly and they’re now feeling the impact of those contracts only two years later.

But, they’ll have a chance to replace each player at a much lower cost either in the draft or with a player already on their roster.

Trading Brandin Cooks doesn’t actually save the Rams any money

It cost the Rams $5 million more to trade Brandin Cooks than it would have to keep him.

When the Rams cut Todd Gurley, they did so before $10.5 million of his contract became fully guaranteed. One day later, they owed Brandin Cooks a $4 million roster bonus. Rather than trading Cooks before that deadline and saving that money, they opted to hold onto him and trade him less than a month later.

On Thursday, they sent Cooks to the Texans, ridding themselves of his massive contract – a contract the Rams gave him in 2018. By trading him away, though, the Rams don’t actually save any money like they did when they cut Gurley.

Quite the opposite, actually. Had they traded Cooks before his bonus was owed, they would’ve taken on $17.8 million in dead money. Since they waited, that dead cap charge jumped to $21.8 million – $5 million more than it would have cost them to just keep Cooks on the roster.

If the trade is designated as a post-June 1 transaction, it will allow the Rams to split the dead cap charge over the next two years, but regardless, they’re still eating $21.8 million for Cooks to not play for them.

The Rams quickly gave Cooks an $81 million extension after acquiring him from the Patriots in 2018, locking him up before he could play out the final year of his rookie contract. It didn’t seem like a terrible decision at the time, and even after Cooks’ first year with the Rams, it didn’t look bad.

But in hindsight, the Rams got very little out of Cooks for what they paid. He got $40.4 million from Los Angeles for just two seasons and 1,787 yards – 1,204 of which came in 2018 alone.

To say this contract was a mistake would be a massive understatement.

Michael Brockers’ contract with Rams is team-friendly in 2020

Michael Brockers’ cap hit in 2020 will be just $3.83 million.

The Los Angeles Rams came into this offseason with limited cap space and five key starters hitting free agency. Somehow, they managed to re-sign three of those players, keeping Andrew Whitworth, Austin Blythe and Michael Brockers in horns.

Brockers was a late addition after his deal with the Ravens fell through, re-signing with the Rams after the team had already brought in A’Shawn Robinson as his potential replacement. It seemed impossible for the Rams to fit Brockers under the cap, but they managed to do so with some creative structuring of his contract.

According to Over the Cap, Brockers’ deal is for three years and worth $24 million. Only $14 million of it is guaranteed, which includes a $4 million signing bonus. His cap hit in 2020 is just $3.83 million, which explains how they were able to fit his contract under the cap despite having very limited room.

Here’s a breakdown of his deal and the cap hit in each season. It jumps to $9.83 million in 2021 with a dead cap charge of $5.17 million if he’s cut, so the Rams could get out of the deal after the upcoming season if they want and still save some money.

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Brockers has been a leader in the locker room and someone younger players look up to, and he’s showing even more evidence of himself being a team player with this deal. With a base salary of just $2 million in 2020, he’s helping the Rams by taking less money in Year 1.

If Brockers sticks around through the 2022 season, though, he’ll make more than $10 million in the final year of his contract, which is a nice reward.

With Brockers’ deal now on the books, the Rams are left with just $325,835 in salary cap space. That doesn’t include Leonard Floyd’s contract, either, which is worth $10 million for one year – though the structure hasn’t been revealed.

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Rams trying to leave cap room to re-sign Kupp, Johnson and Ramsey

Kevin Demoff mentioned the importance of those three players moving forward.

For as much was made about the Los Angeles Rams’ class of free agents this offseason, next year’s group is even more critical to the future of the franchise. Cooper Kupp, John Johnson, Jalen Ramsey, Gerald Everett, Troy Hill and Samson Ebukam will all become free agents next year if they don’t sign extensions ahead of time, and all of them are expected to contribute in significant ways in 2020.

The Rams know they can’t keep everyone, so they’ll have to pick and choose which players they re-sign and keep around for the long haul. On that list, Ramsey, Kupp and Johnson would seem to be the top priorities, and that’s the feeling shared by COO Kevin Demoff, too.

On ESPN 710 LA recently, Demoff picked out those three players as the ones Los Angeles wants to ensure it can keep around. The team is saving room to re-sign them, be it this offseason or next year.

“[We’re] making sure long-term that the Cooper Kupps, the John Johnsons, the Jalen Ramseys are all part of our future and that we leave room available for that as the salary cap emerges,” Demoff said. “A lot of moving parts, and we all know one of the crazy things about the NFL offseason is you finish the first week of free agency and everybody says, ‘Well, what’s the starting lineup look like?’ without the draft, without trades, without everything that’s going to happen for the next six months.”

There’s talk among fans and analysts that the Rams’ Super Bowl window has closed, but they still have a strong core of players to lean on for years to come. Aaron Donald isn’t going anywhere, nor is Jared Goff, Robert Woods or Tyler Higbee.

Demoff is confident that Sean McVay and Les Snead can construct a roster that will contend for the foreseeable future, most importantly in 2020.

“With Sean and Les, we’ve been among the league leaders in wins and points, Super Bowl trip, two division titles, and we’ve got great confidence in them to find the right combination of players and to make sure when we open SoFi Stadium, we do it with a team that’s absolutely going to compete for a division title, a conference title and a world championship,” he said.

The contracts the Rams have handed out this season have either been one-year deals or function as such. The Rams can easily get out of A’Shawn Robinson’s two-year pact after one season, given considering only $9.5 million is guaranteed. Austin Blythe and Leonard Floyd both signed one-year deals, too, while Whitworth’s deal will likely allow the Rams to move on after 2020 if they choose. This frees up money next offseason, allowing them to re-sign those key players Demoff mentioned.

It’s just a matter of finding a common ground with those players to make a deal work.

Rams have few options left to free up cap space in 2020

The Rams don’t have many options left when it comes to freeing up cap space.

Few teams have been as inactive on the free-agent market this season as the Los Angeles Rams. That’s no surprise, either. They came into the offseason with limited cap space, bloated contracts and Jalen Ramsey still to pay.

They cut Todd Gurley and Clay Matthews, and declined Nickell Robey-Coleman’s 2020 option, all to free up some much-needed money. While those moves helped a bit, the Rams have very few options left when it comes to creating cap space.

According to Over The Cap, they only have $6.9 million in salary cap space left, and that doesn’t include the deals for Austin Blythe or Leonard Floyd. It also doesn’t account for the $5.5 million savings that will come on June 2. That’s still not much money, considering the Rams need a kicker, have to sign their draft class and lack depth at positions like linebacker and along the defensive line.

Here are the team’s most logical options when it comes to creating more cap space this offseason.

Restructure Jared Goff’s contract

Potential savings: $7.4 million

Restructuring Goff’s deal would have saved the Rams $16.8 million, had it been done before his $21 million roster bonus for 2020 was paid on March 19. As a result, restructuring how would only save the Rams about $7.4 million, according to Spotrac.

That’s not a significant amount, but it would more than double the Rams’ current pool of spending money. The issue is that it would push more guaranteed money into future years, making it more difficult for the Rams to move on from Goff if they choose to before his contract expires.

Restructure Aaron Donald’s contract

Potential savings: $12.9 million

Donald isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, which makes him a candidate to have his contract restructured. Yes, it would push money deeper into his deal, but there’s no reason to believe the Rams are planning to cut him before his contract expires.

There hasn’t been much talk about restructuring Donald’s deal, but it would make sense from a financial standpoint, given his standing with the team.

Trade Gerald Everett

Potential savings: $1.3 million

The Rams seem committed to Tyler Higbee as their primary tight end, which could make Everett a trade chip. The Patriots have a clear need at tight end and have yet to replace Rob Gronkowski, so they would seem like a logical fit – especially after the two teams previously worked out the Brandin Cooks trade.

Trading Everett wouldn’t net the Rams much in return, though, and freeing up $1.3 million in cap space isn’t worth losing a promising young player. The Rams would be better off keeping Everett unless they can get a second- or third-round pick back.

Cut Malcolm Brown

Potential savings: $1.1 million

Brown is currently slotted in as the No. 2 running back behind Darrell Henderson; at least in the eyes of fans. The Rams might view him as their starter now that Todd Gurley is gone. Cutting him would save $1.1 million in cap space this year, but simultaneously leave the Rams barren at running back.

Until they find a viable replacement in the draft or in free agency, they should hold onto Brown. But don’t completely rule out the possibility of him being cut at some point this offseason.

Trade Rob Havenstein

Potential savings: $5.4 million

Havenstein’s contract looked like a bargain before he struggled mightily in 2019. Now, it’s a legitimate question as to whether he can earn a starting job over Bobby Evans and David Edwards next season. If the Rams don’t feel like he’s worth the money, they can trade him to save more than $5 million.

It all comes down to how Havenstein performs this offseason and whether he’s a noticeably better option than Evans and Edwards.

A’Shawn Robinson’s contract with Rams includes $9.5M guaranteed

A’Shawn Robinson’s contract with the Rams is essentially a one-year deal.

The Los Angeles Rams have only signed two outside free agents thus far, mostly focusing on shedding cap and watching from the sidelines during the initial wave of signings. They did bring in A’Shawn Robinson shortly after losing Michael Brockers, signing him to essentially take over as the starting defensive end – though he could also play some nose tackle.

His deal was initially reported as a two-year pact worth $17 million, but the details weren’t revealed. Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle has the actual numbers now, and it’s essentially a one-year deal for Robinson.

The deal comes with $9.5 million guaranteed in the form of a $5.5 million salary in 2020, a $3 million signing bonus and $1 million guaranteed on the third day of the 2021 league year.

Robinson also has incentives in his contract, including $500,000 in per-game active roster bonuses and $1 million pertaining to the team making the playoffs.

Robinson isn’t going to bring much as a pass rusher for the Rams, but he is a stout run defender thanks to his size and length. He and Sebastian Joseph-Day have the versatility to play either nose tackle or defensive end, so we’ll likely see both players lining up at each spot next season.

As promising as Robinson is as a player, considering he’s only 25, he’s been inconsistent and really fell out of favor on the defensive line after Matt Patricia arrived. The Rams have to hope a change of scenery will bring out the best in him moving forward.

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Salary cap implications of Rams releasing Todd Gurley, Clay Matthews

The Rams freed up some cap space with these two moves, but they also took on plenty of dead money.

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It’s been clear for a while now that the Los Angeles Rams would be lacking cap space this offseason, given their top-heavy roster with stars such as Jared Goff, Aaron Donald and Brandin Cooks eating up a good portion of the salary cap.

The team has been making moves this week to free up some money, beginning with the declined option for Nickell Robey-Coleman. It continued with the shocking release of Todd Gurley on Thursday, as well as the release of Clay Matthews.

Much was made about Gurley’s contract being a deterrent in any possible trade, which turned out to be the case. The Rams couldn’t find a trade partner and were forced to release the star running back.

So how does this move – as well as the decision to release Matthews – impact the Rams’ salary cap? It does create some cap space, but also brings on a large chunk of dead money in the next two seasons. For Gurley alone, he’ll leave behind $20.15 million in dead money.

According to Field Yates of ESPN, the Rams released Gurley with a post-June 1 designation. That spreads out the dead cap charge of $20.15 million over the next two years, which makes it an easier pill to swallow in 2020. With this move, the Rams save $5.5 million in cap space this year. Had he been an outright cut, they would’ve lost $2.9 million in cap space.

The timing of Gurley’s release was calculated, too. By cutting him before Friday, they avoid having to pay him another $10.5 million that would’ve become fully guaranteed at 4 p.m. on Thursday.

And according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, $2.5 million includes offset language, which means the Rams get a portion of his contract back if/when he signs with another team this offseason. It’s similar to Blake Bortles’ situation last year, with the Jaguars paying part of his salary, allowing the Rams to only pay him $1 million.

As for Matthews, his release is much simpler. The Rams save $5 million in cap space by releasing him before 4 p.m. ET on Thursday, since they didn’t have to pay him an additional $2 million in the form of a bonus.

And if Matthews signs elsewhere for $2 million or more – which he certainly should – the Rams will gain another $2 million in cap space.

According to Over the Cap, the Rams have $9.57 million in cap space. That includes Andrew Whitworth’s extension, but not the signings of Austin Blythe, Leonard Floyd or A’Shawn Robinson.

It’s not yet clear how those contracts will impact the Rams’ salary cap because the structure of those deals hasn’t been released, but Floyd’s deal is for $10 million and Robinson’s averages $8.5 million per year.

Ignoring those contracts and adding in the extra space from Gurley and Matthews, the Rams have about $20.07 million in cap space, once Gurley’s money gets added in on June 2.

NFL sets salary cap at $198.2 million for 2020

That’s slightly less than the projected amount of $200 million that was previously reported.

After players voted to approve the proposed collective bargaining agreement on Saturday, the NFL announced an important piece of news for the current offseason. According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the salary cap will be $198.2 million in 2020.

That’s slightly lower than the previous projection of $200 million, but within the original projected range of $196.8 million and $201.2 million.

Last year, the salary cap was $188.2 million. That’s an increase of only 5.3 percent, which is the smallest since 2013.

For the Rams, that gives them a little bit less room to work with as five starters are set to become unrestricted free agents on Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET.

According to Over The Cap, the Rams were projected to have $19 million in cap space with the salary cap set at $200 million. Now that it’s $1.8 million less than the projection, the Rams are expected to have about $17.2 million to spend this year.

They can free up money by restructuring Jared Goff’s deal, which would create $16.8 million, while also releasing or trading other players on the roster. It remains to be seen if they’ll make any of those moves, though, as the start of the new league year is set to begin Wednesday.