Aaron Donald, Joe Noteboom chip in to help rally Rams roster for SB run

The magic of managing NFL salary cap is illusion after all

So how did they do it? Well, with Noteboom, the Rams actually renegotiated the contract, but at a cost. You see, $10 million of Noteboom's previously paid salary has been pushed into void years of 2025 and 2026. That means that at the beginning of 2025, the Rams will take a dead cap space hit of $10 million due to Joe Noteboom.

But wait, there's more.

While the team freed up $9.2 million from Aaron Donald's contract, this was not an extension nor was it a renegotiation. The team merely pushed that money from 2024 into the future. At the end of this season, Aaron Donald will almost certainly opt to become a free agent, and the Rams will be left with over $38.5 million in dead cap space for 2025.

That's nearly $50 million of dead cap space projected for 2025, and the team is not done just yet.

More savings to the 2024 salary cap may be in store, as the team has to find the money for the 2024 NFL Draft class, as well as tuck some funds aside for emergencies. The team can find some savings simply by releasing oft-injured tight end Hunter Long, which would add back $1.3 million to the team's available cap space. There are other restructures still on the table as well.

But for each new restructure, cap hits do not disappear. They merely are kicked into future years, and that simply handicaps the front office in those future years.

The pattern of the Rams front office right now shows no signs whatsoever of deferring a run at the NFL Championship until 2025. In fact, the evidence is conclusive that 2024 is the year for this team to push for competing in the Super Bowl. Have the Rams done enough to get there?

Let's wait to see how the Rams convert 11 picks into players through the 2024 NFL Draft before we answer that.

We are shocked by the latest news, and will try to capture what that all means to the Rams plans and salary cap throughout the day.

Thank you for reading.