Having committed to 7 players, how will LA Rams pay for all of this?

The LA Rams have reached an agreement with seven players to (re-)join the team for the 2024 NFL season. However, the team does not have limitless funding at their disposal. After the team had reached agreements with the first few players before the NFL's 'legal tampering,' period began, we pointed out that the team's surplus salary cap space was evaporating at a pretty rapid pace.

That did not sit well with a few very vocal and indignant fans.

I was confused by that. Spending quickly is not a judgment of spending quality. It's merely a comment on the pace by which the team was spending. As of 10:00 am PT on March 13, 2024, the LA Rams available 2024 salary cap is approximately $17.5 million per Spotrac.com. But those numbers do not reflect the new free agents added to the team: Jonah Jackson, Darious Williams, or Colby Parkinson.

Per Spotrac, Jackson's cap hit in 2024 is $13.7 million. That leaves the Rams with some work to do.

Where is the LA Rams cap space going?

The LA Rams touted the fact that they intended to reform their roster around three veterans, also referred to as weight-bearing walls. Those players are DT Aaron Donald, QB Matthew Stafford, and WR Cooper Kupp. The cost to the team of keeping those three veterans in 2024 is pretty significant. Per the social media information released below, the Rams have two of the top 12 cap hits in the entire NFL on their roster this year: Matthew Stafford (4th) and Aaron Donald (11th).

Just for the record, Cooper Kupp is on the books for $29.78 million in cap hit in 2024.

Now don't freak out. Whether or not that is money well spent is your call. I'm simply pointing out that nearly $114 million , or over 43 percent, of the team's 2024 salary cap is invested in just three players. So if you want to know where the money has gone? Start there.

But after the top three, it certainly gets interesting. Swing tackle Joe Noteboom is set to hit the team's salary cap by $20 million in 2024. That won't stand. Either the team will renegotiate his contract to save approximately $11 million, or the team will release him with a post-June-1 designation, which will save the team $15 million in 2024. In either case, the Rams have some work to do.

If you want to see how the team can shave $65 million from their 2024 salary cap, check this out. But until that happens, it's probably best to share a data table to see where the team's 2024 salary cap stands today:

Salary cap figures per Spotrac.com as of 11:00 a.m. PT on March 13, 2024.

It's save to appraise the LA Rams current 2024 salary cap picture as shy of their total obligations by about $15-20 million. That does not allow for any reserve to sign veterans over the course of the 2024 NFL season in case of injury or to add players who unexpectedly become available via their release or via trade.

While the outcome of Joe Noteboom's fate will help, it won't address the projected deficit completely. With the addition of Colby Parkinson, Hunter Long could be a salary cap casualty, saving the team another $1.3 million.

The Rams are not in dire straights. But from this evidence alone, the team appears to be focused on winning in 2024 and not delaying an NFL Championship push any longer. Perhaps the team will not hit a grand slam in the offseason, after all? But a scoring rally can be built on a series of singles and doubles too.

I love what the team is doing so far. Now, how will they pay for everyone? Well, it seems that the final answer will come in due time.