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Seeking a change at quarterback, the Los Angeles Rams made the bold decision to trade two first-round picks, a third-round pick and Jared Goff to the Detroit Lions for Matthew Stafford. They also took on $22.2 million in dead money to get rid of Goff, a significant financial hit to their already-tricky salary cap situation.
And in the famous words of pitchmen everywhere: “But wait! There’s more!”
While every other notable trade was announced and made official at 4 p.m. ET (or shortly thereafter) on Wednesday as the new league year began, there wasn’t a peep from the Rams or Lions about the Goff-Stafford swap.
That was intentional, and it put the Rams on the hook for $2.5 million more than initially believed. As Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap astutely pointed out Thursday, Goff has a $2.5 million roster bonus due today, March 18.
Since the trade wasn’t processed by the league until this morning, Rams will be the ones to pay out that bonus as part of an agreement between the two sides, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported.
Why did the Matthew Stafford-Jared Goff trade become official today, not yesterday?
Goff had a $2.5 million roster bonus due on the second day of the league year, which is today. The #Rams agreed to pay it as part of the trade to the #Lions, per source. A parting gift from L.A.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 18, 2021
So instead of carrying a $22.2 million dead cap hit in 2021 for trading Goff, the Rams will take on $24.7 million. While $2.5 million may not seem like much, the Rams need every dime they can get right now after losing several key free agents, including John Johnson and Morgan Fox.
This extra $2.5 million didn’t come out of nowhere for the teams, of course, but fans and analysts are just now catching wind of the added money landing on the Rams’ salary cap.