How do LA Rams afford NFL Free Agency signings? They can’t, yet

Kiting FA contracts is not a good strategy

The latest article by Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk.com suggests that the Rams are kiting contracts. Much like the old trick of “kiting checks”, the Rams have drawn upon contracts for multiple NFL players, but have not freed up the money to pay for them. So the team awaits the results of a medical examination while the team weighs out their options.

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That is a practice that seems to be gaining popularity this year.  Two Rams’ free agents have had projected deals negated so far this offseason. The Baltimore Ravens had buyer’s remorse after a medical examination flagged DT Michael Brocker’s ankle. And S Marqui Christian found the NY Jets backing out of a one-year deal. Unless the Rams attempt a similar strategy, the team will be on the hook for a great deal more money than they have available.

Despite the aversion to restructuring contracts, the Rams have painted themselves into a corner.  Either the team goes about restructuring Goff’s contract now, which will push his tremendous amount of cap dollars into future years, or the team works quickly on trading players to free up cap space. Should the team fail to do either, they will need to tear up one or more potential player contracts, which will damage their reputation as they attempt to negotiate future deals.

While this has all been made possible by the impact of COVID-19 and the makeshift processes thrown together to address free agency signings without meeting players at the team facilities, the Rams have found a creative solution to their “no money” dilemma.