LA Rams send starting ILB Kenny Young to Broncos

Subtle salary cap move

Of course, there could be a more complex answer afoot here. Call it professional skepticism, but while that answer is the simplest, it’s downright too simple for a chess player like LA Rams GM Les Snead. You see, the Rams could simply promote Jones. The Rams had just cleared salary cap space. And the LA Rams love to have depth at critical positions on the roster, and trust veterans over rookies in doing so.

So the trade, this trade, was likely driven by one of two reasons. The Rams either needed to clear additional salary cap space, or the team needed to open a roster spot on the 53-man roster.  Of course, the front office may simply have an interest in both freeing up cap space and a roster spot. That would lead to believe that the Rams have an additional move in the making.

Trading Young now costs the Rams $884,942 of dead cap space per Spotrace.com, but move his remaining $1,334,058 to the books of the Denver Broncos as the remaining part of his salary. That has increased the available salary-cap space for the team to over $4.44 million. Again, that is by no means a huge war chest fund, it is enough to give the Rams added flexibility to add, restructure, or extend contracts to the team’s payroll.

Is there another corresponding move yet to be made? These are the LA Rams, a team that lives and dies on the high-stakes tables of going All-In at a moment’s notice. Nothing is surprising, nor should it. The Rams must clearly sense that the team has the pieces offensively to make a Super Bowl run in 2021. Now, does the team have the right pieces on defense? On special teams?

Could the Rams be considering a return specialist to anchor their kick and punt return duties? Or is there a run defender who can step up for the team who may be available either from free agency or via a yet-to-be-made trade? Stay tuned. I think the Rams are worth keeping a close on for the next seven days.

In the meantime, we should see a lot more of rookie Ernest Jones at inside linebacker.