NFL Rumors: LA Rams RB Todd Gurley return in question

Rams Salary status make Gurley cap casualty?

In a perfect team friendly contract world, Gurley is not worth the contract he now holds. That would most certainly mean the Rams would cut Gurley outright, and offer to sign him back to a more reasonably priced contract. But Gurley’s agent was far too savvy for that. By commiting the Rams to guaranteed dollars, he essentially  linked the Rams to an underperforming Gurley for years.  Severing the contract now has severe financial penalties for the Rams in terms of the 2020 salary cap.  The Rams went all-in, but didn’t have the right cards.  Now, they have limits as to what the team can do.

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Option III – Release Gurley

While this may seem simple enough, it’s incredibly costly.  But outright cutting Gurley, all that guaranteed money flows through against the 2020 cap, essentially bankrupting the team here and now.  That means the Rams will have no dollars whatsoever to use in free agency, will be forced to restructure existing player contracts, and will struggle to find enough money to pay their draft selcections.  Restructuring other contracts will relieve the Rams salary cap chokehold, but this is a horrific option for the team trying to get back to the top of the competitive NFC West.

Option IV – Restructure Gurley’s contract

The most likely option purely from financial impact appears to get Gurley’s ultra-expensive contract renegotiated.  If the team can renegotiate the contract quickly enough, they can save over $9.1 million this season.   Restructure does not eliminate dollars from the contract. It simply converts bonuses to salary, or salary to bonus dollars.  By converting categories of how the player is paid, the team can level load the contract to reduce the uneven salary cap hits of guaranteed dollars.

Of course, once restructured, the team might create a more receptive trade market and trade Gurley away.