Los Angeles Rams: Examining the nightmarish cap situation
By Samuel Teets
The Los Angeles Rams cap situation could cost them in the long run.
The Los Angeles Rams quickly rose to prominence under head coach Sean McVay. In his second season with the team, McVay led the Rams to Super Bowl LIII, where they lost to Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, and the New England Patriots. Los Angeles looked like a different team in 2019. The Rams went 9-7 and missed the playoffs. Now, a horrendous cap situation could permanently handicap McVay’s squad.
Los Angeles’s plight stems from two significant issues. The team faces one of the three largest dead cap hits in the NFL, along with the rebuilding Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars. While the dead cap situation mostly pertains to the 2020 season, the Rams also face massive complications when eight key contributors become free agents next spring.
The Rams haven’t built a team capable of sustained success because of their horrible cap management. Here’s how the team’s dead cap and pending free agents make Los Angeles’ future look questionable.
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Los Angeles Rams’ Dead Cap
According to Spotrac, the Rams amassed a huge amount of dead cap this offseason. The franchise parted ways with three significant players over the past several months, generating roughly $33 million in dead cap for this coming year. Los Angeles ranks in the bottom four teams in available cap space for the upcoming season.
The Rams parted ways with several veterans this offseason, including Todd Gurley. The former two-time First-Team All-Pro played poorly last year. With the long-term durability of Gurley’s knees in question, Los Angeles desperately sought a way to get out of his four-year, $57.5 million contract.
In March, the Rams released Gurley with a post-June 1st designation, which saved the team $5.5 million in cap space this season and splits the Georgia product’s $20.15 million dead cap charge over the next two years. Los Angeles timed the transaction well, opening some space this season and preventing Gurley’s guarantees for 2020 from kicking in.
However, the Rams still owe Gurley a significant amount of money. Spotrac lists his dead cap hit at $9.25 million this year. The website also claims Gurley accounts for $8.4 million in dead cap in 2021. Over the Cap features different numbers, claiming the Rams owe Gurley $11.75 million this season and $8.4 million next year.
Gurley isn’t Los Angeles’ largest dead cap burden. The organization signed Brandin Cooks to a five-year, $80 million extension two years ago. After Cooks battled injuries throughout last season, the Rams decided to trade him. Los Angeles sent Cooks to Houston, admitting their mistake and using the draft pick they got in the trade to take Florida’s Van Jefferson.
Cooks counts for a whopping $21.8 million in dead cap this year. That’s over ten percent of Los Angeles’ total cap space. Luckily, the Rams don’t owe Cooks anything past the upcoming season, but his deal is a massive hindrance for an organization trying to stay afloat in the NFL’s toughest division.
The Rams also took a $2 million hit for releasing outside linebacker Clay Matthews. The move did save Los Angeles $3.5 million, but the transaction also ensured that over 15% of the team’s cap goes to players not even on the roster.
Los Angeles Rams’ Free Agents in 2021
Los Angeles suffered several heavy losses in free agency. The organization said goodbye to Dante Fowler Jr., who finished second on the team with 11.5 sacks and 16 quarterback hits. Cory Littleton, who led or tied for the team lead with two interceptions, nine passes defensed, two forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, and 134 tackles, also found a new home.
The Rams can survive losing a quality pass rusher and do-it-all linebacker. However, the team could find itself up a creek without a paddle in 2021. After this coming season, Austin Blythe, Gerald Everett, Leonard Floyd, Troy Hill, John Johnson, Cooper Kupp, Jalen Ramsey and Josh Reynolds all need new contracts. Most of those players want serious raises, and Spotrac only projects the Rams having slightly over $30 million in cap space next year.
Let’s focus on Ramsey for now. The Rams acquired him from Jacksonville for two first-round picks and a 2021 fourth-round selection. They don’t want to lose him after only two seasons. Unfortunately for Los Angeles, two cornerbacks signed record-breaking deals this offseason, and Ramsey is next in line.
Byron Jones signed a then-record deal worth $16.5 million annually. A few weeks later, Darius Slay signed an extension worth slightly more than $16.683 million annually. It’s almost a guarantee that Ramsey wants to smash those marks when he hits free agency. Even Spotrac puts the 25-year-old’s calculated market value at $16.7 million annually.
Even if the Rams find a way to keep Ramsey around long-term, the team faces another tough situation with Kupp. A former third-round pick, Kupp made less than $1 million annually in base salary over the past three years. After averaging over 70 receiving yards per game in back-to-back seasons, Kupp’s calculated market value is also $16.7 million annually. That would make him the seventh highest-paid receiver in the NFL.
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Only two Rams players, Aaron Donald and Jared Goff, currently make more than $16 million annually. By all projections, that number could double next offseason. However, the Rams can’t possibly sustain a winning roster with four players accounting for roughly 40% of the cap. There’s no good answer for how Los Angeles should climb out of its nightmarish cap situation.