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

When we posed the question recently of how the team planned to pay for all of the new free-agency signings, we were not holding the LA Rams front office up for ridicule or skepticism. It was simply natural curiosity, The team has an impressive streak of turning a little bit of salary cap space into a pretty impressive importing of new veteran players.

So far, the Rams number of new contracts planned for 2024 is already up to nine players. Four of those new contracts are for players who are new to the Rams organization:

• LG Jonah Jackson - 3 years, $51 million
• TE Colby Parkinson - 3 years, $22.5 million
• DB Darious Williams - 3 years, $22.5 million
• DB Kamren Curl - 2 years, $13 million

But the team has been equally busy extending players as well:

• RB Ronnie Rivers - 1 year, $985 thousand
• WR Demarcus Robinson - 1 year, up to $5 million
• RG Kevin Dotson - 3 years, $48 million
• LT Alaric Jackson - 1 year, $4.89 million
• OLB Michael Hoecht - 1 year, $2.95 million

While the specifics of these contracts are not known, they have undoubtedly pushed the team's finances to a point where freeing up additional cap space is no longer an option. Sensing the need for the team to free up a lot of cash this year, we got ahead of the matter and shared in some detail how the Rams front office could free up an additional $65 million in 2024 salary cap space.

It appears as though the Rams took our advice.

The most obvious place to start for the Rams was with swing tackle Joe Noteboom. His $20 million cap hit in 2024 was far in excess of the value of his swing-tackle role. Now don't get me wrong, our expectations for the Rams were to keep him on the roster. We even predicted as such. With Noteboom back, at a better price, the Rams have a complete offensive line plus a sixth man that should allow the group to crack the Top-3 offensive line groups for 2024.

Finding funds for Rams Free Agency fun

1. Noteboom returns at a better value
2. Aaron Donald steps up for his team
3. The magic of managing NFL salary cap is illusion after all

Noteboom returns at a better value

The Rams rumors continued for weeks over the team's efforts to bring swing tackle Joe Noteboom's salary more in line with the role that the team projects for him in 2024. With teammate Alaric Jackson as the presumed starting left tackle, Noteboom's role as swing tackle for this upcoming season places his value at substantially less than a $20 million hit in 2024.

Finally, the team and player have agreed to what that new contract should look like.

So what does Noteboom's new deal look like? Per Over the Cap.com, the new contract has pulled his $20 million hit down to a far more manageable $11.6 million hit. That is still a bit on the high end of where I anticipated his salary range to fall. But he is unquestionably a solid first-responder to fill in for any Rams offensive lineman injury, and he has done a remarkable job when plugged in and asked to compete at any number of positions.

That has allowed the team to shave $8.4 million off their 2024 salary cap, While that may not seem like a copious amount, it's a vital component that will allow the team to fit everyone under the 2024 cap ceiling.

Aaron Donald steps up for his team

Still, the team needs more space. For that, the Rams tapped All-Pro defensive lineman Aaron Donald. And with his restructuring, the Rams save another $9.2 million in cap space:

Recently, there have been a rash of unfounded silly talk on social media. Someone posted a video clip of Aaron Donald dancing and swore that meant that he was demanding to be traded. Others interpreted the dance as evidence that Aaron Donald planned to retire, and join his former DL Coach and friend Eric Henderson on the USC coaching staff.

Still others interpreted it as a no show for the 2024 NFL season. Whether that meant retirement or just holding out for a new contract, opinions were mixed. I didn't give any of those speculations much time, simply because Aaron Donald had far too much fun in 2023 to miss out playing this year. But most importantly, he said that he would be back. And you can take him at his word.

The LA Rams must start to consider the next chapter in the tale of success with HC Sean McVay at the helm. Like it or not, the Rams roster still considers QB Matthew Stafford, WR Cooper Kupp, and DL Aaron Donald as the team's weight-bearing walls. I believe that the team has found a successor for Kupp in Puka Nacua. And the team certainly has a candidate for Donald's understudy in Kobie Turner. But the team needs an heir to Stafford as well.

But that may have to wait. After all, we have money matters to explore right now.

UPDATE: Rams legen Aaron Donald announces his retirement

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.