LA Rams save a cool million by renegotiating Johnny Hekker deal

It’s a done deal

With the pressure on both the football field production and the heavy financial cost, the Rams have serious leverage over Hekker in renegotiating his contract. Their alternative was to cut Hekker and bring Bojorquez on board for a fraction of the cost. But that would not resolve the roster logjam. In the end, the Rams traded the only punter with a market, Corey Bojorquez, and reworked Hekker’s contract to generate $2 million in savings over the next two years.

Johnny Hekker revised salary cap 2021-23
Base salary    Pro Bonus       Total Sal
$2.75 m            $1.19 m           $3.94 m
$3.0   m             $0.7   m           $3.7  m
OPTIONAL YEAR 2023
$4.3   m             $0.45 m           $4.7  m
*2023 is now voidable by Johnny Hekker

Hekker’s contract was reduced by $1 million in both 2021 and 2022, allowing the Rams to generate enough cap savings to make retaining Hekker feasible. Are the Rams so hard up for savings in their cap space that getting a million-dollar concession in each of the next two years was worth the fuss and effort? In a word, yes.

The LA Rams were in a bad spot against the salary cap over the past two seasons because the team parted ways with WR Brandon Cooks, RB Todd Gurley, and QB Jared Goff quickly after financially lucrative contract extensions that included whopping stacks of guaranteed cash.

While that’s all water under the bridge, the team is still struggling under a nearly $40 million dead cap burden this year. That situation forced the team to rework many of their existing contracts in 2021, pushing many salary burdens into 2022. Look for the team to free up cap space in 2022 in preparation to re-sign a number of key players next year.