How LA Rams can create over $65 million more cap space entering free agency

Yes, the LA Rams have some money to spend. But when is there really 'enough' cap space? For the LA Rams heading into the 2024 NFL season, the available salary cap space number is somewhere between $40.9 million (overthecap.com) and $43.6 million (Spotrac.com) as of March 6, 2024. Dating the cap space is vital because, for every adjustment to the team's payroll for the upcoming NFL season, the available cap space is ultimately impacted.

Is $40 million enough? Well, to be honest, the Rams are not even among the Top-10 teams in terms of available cap space. And six teams that are among the Top-10 teams in terms of available salary cap space have more players under contract for the 2024 NFL season.

You see, cap space alone is not enough to understand how the team is prepared for the 2024 NFL Free Agency market. The Rams, with 52 players under contract, must add 38 more players to the roster. As the team does so, the offseason rules of the Top-51 contracts apply. That means that for every player the Rams sign, a less expensive player is removed. The Rams have six players currently under contract for 2024 at $795,000. That means that new additions to the roster will impact the available salary cap by the 2024 cost of that new contract, less the $795,000 that was already on the books by the less costly player.

So it comes down to that financial shuffleboard effect. As more expensive players are signed to the team's roster, less expensive players fall out of the Top-51 used to calculate the salary cap impact.

But there are other costs that many do not factor into the mix. For starters, the LA Rams rookie draft class is going to be expensive. With 11 picks in tow, and four of those picks falling among the Top-100 selections, the Rams front office has to allow approximately $9 million of space that is set aside to sign the rookies who are selected during the 2024 NFL Draft. Then there is the amount that the team wishes to carry into the new NFL season for contingencies such as adding players to cover injuries, roster changes due to bad fits, and simply money to sign or trade for players who could prove to be essential upgrades. For that amount, I would estimate approximately $10 million.

That brings the Rams available space down to $21-25 million, a more modest amount. So, what can be done to bolster that number?

Well, for this article, we propose taking the steps to free up more than an additional $65 million in cap space. How can the team do that? Well, we need to borrow the expertise from overthecap.com as of March 7, 2024. Why date that information? Well, as time passes, contractual clauses will kick in, and roster bonuses and other financially impactful events will take place.

All set? Let's free up some cash . . .

Six steps to creating nearly $65 million in cap space

1. VI: Savings of $7.7 million ($7.7 million total)
2. V: Savings of $19.86 million ($27.56 million total)
3. IV: Savings of $11.03 million ($38.59 million total)
4. III: Savings of $12.53 million ($51.12 million total)
5. II: Savings of $11 million ($62.12 million total)
6. I: Savings of $5.6 million ($65.72 million total)
7. Summing it all up

VI: Savings of $7.7 million ($7.7 million total)

The act of creating salary cap space is not a magic trick. It's the same basic principal as your own home budget if you set aside a certain amount to save at your bank, credit union, or savings & loan on a regular basis. Restructuring a contract does not eliminate the payment of money to a player. Rather, it stretches when that payment must be shown in terms of the current year salary cap. Since we are just getting the hang of this, let's start with a relatively easy contrat. If the Rams restructure the contract of starting RT Rob Havenstein, the team can create a savings of $7.7 Million.

Okay, so how can that be?

The current contract for Havenstein extends through 2025, plus two void years that allow the team to stretch the salary cap impact of his contract even further. In 2024 Rob Havenstein is due to earn a salary of $6.5 million, plus a roster bonus of $5 million. Both of those categories fall in the year in which they occur, or in this case, $11.5 million hits 2024. But if the team converts those payments to signing bonuses, the $11.5 million can be spread over the live of the contract. By doing so, the team can move $7,717,500 into future years.

• 2024 - $7,717,500 savings
• 2025 - $3,858,750 additional cap hit
• 2026 (void year) - $3,858,750 additional cap hit

As you can see, it's just kicking the can down the road.

V: Savings of $19.86 million ($27.56 million total)

Okay, now that we have walked through what a restructure looks like with smaller savings, we are ready to restructure QB Matthew Stafford's contract. Stafford is due to impact the team's 2024 salary cap to the tune of $49,500,000. In that number is already a prorated bonus of $18.500,000 which is being spread from a prior year. But Stafford is also due a salary in 2024 of $31,000,000.

Just like Havenstein, if the team converts Stafford's salary into a 2024 signing bonus the team can spread that amount across the life of his contract, which extends through 2026. That shifts $19,860,000 from 2024 into future years (as did that of Haventein's contract. Once more, the money will still be paid out in 2024. The only change is the category of how the team recognizes those payments.

So far, the Rams are up to just under $28 million in saving,. Let's keep going.

IV: Savings of $11.03 million ($38.59 million total)

The next trick of the trade cannot be a contract restructure. Why? Well, All-Pro defensive lineman Aaron Donald is playing in the last year of his contract. While he has additional 'void years' through 2026 in his current contract, and any restructure performed in 2024 will merely push all of the cap saving into 2025, the first day of 2025, which is his void year.

Another option in the Rams bag of tricks is to enter into an arduous process of extending Aaron Donald in 2024. By doing so, the team can effective include his current year's payments of $10 million salary and $5 million roster bonus, convert them into a signing bonus (same money, different category) and spread them over the life of his new extension.

Is Donald willing to re-up with the Rams? In the past, he insisted upon doing, and was willing to hold out from training camp until a new contract, with a brand new guaranteed salary, was ratified. By extending Donald in 2024, the team can create savings of $11.03 million that is pushed into future years. Still with me? Let's keep going.

III: Savings of $12.53 million ($51.12 million total)

While some may argue that the LA Rams did not get their money's worth out of veteran WR Cooper Kupp in 2022 or 2023, I do not believe the team sees it that way. If anything, the team likely views Kupp as an underpaid player in 2021 and simply catching up to his franchise-record-smashing season in 2021.

Let's park any interest in renegotiating Kupp's salary for another time and focus on what is the more likely scenario. Cooper Kupp's current contract runs through 2026. Kupp is due $15 million in standard salary and another $5 million in a roster bonus in 2024. If the team restructures WR Cooper Kupp's contract, the team can create an additional $12.5 million in savings.

Magic? Not at all.

Again, this is not pulling money out of the player's pocket or cookin the books. It's simply the very common practice of pushing today's salary cap hits into future years.

II: Savings of $11 million ($62.12 million total)

So far we have covered the strategy or restructuring or extending a player's contract. But neither strategy apply to LA Rams swing tackle Joe Noteboom. Much like recently released veteran center Brian Allen, the team extended Noteboom in 2022 with the intention that he would earn and retain a starting role at left tackle on the offensive line. That contract was for three years and $40 million. Unfortunately, the Rams found it necessary to create cap space in 2023 just to connect the dots, and so the Rams pushed some of Noteboom's 2023 salary into 2024 and into two void years of 2025 and 2026.

Much like Donald, Noteboom is in the last year of his contract, and is due to be paid $10 million in base salary, $5 million in roster bonus, and carryover of $5 million from his 2022 signing bonus. If the Rams cut Noteboom outright with a post-June 1 designation, then the only money that would impact 2024 is the $5 million previous signing bonus. $10 million of residual signing bonus would hit in 2025. Without the designation, the Rams would save just $5 million, but swallow all $15 million of the deferred signing bonus in 2024.

What the Rams want to do is renegotiate the final year of Noteboom's contract, pulling down his $15 million of salary and bonus due in 2024 to a more reasonable amount of $6-8 million. By doing so, the team can keep the void year's in place, and spread the impact of the new but lower salary over 2024 and the void years.

This savings is probably the squishiest (less certain) of the bunch, but overthecap.com projects a saving of $11 million. So we will go with that.

I: Savings of $5.6 million ($65.72 million total)

Last but not least, we come to the contract of starting TE Tyler Higbee, who is projected to start the 2024 NFL season on the bench due to a late ACL injury in the Wild Card Round of the 2024 NFL Playoffs. Like Kupp, I recognize that some may not view the current contract with Tyler Higbee in the same regard of the team getting fair market value for their money. But until the team's rhetoric suggest that they are seeking savings by paying Higbee less, I will simply focus on savings by restructuring his current contract.

Tyler Higbee is under contract with the team through 2025 (plus one void year in 2026). He is due to earn a salary of $3 million, plus a roster bonus of $1 million per game up to $5.5 million. He is also due an additional bonus worth just over $1.1 million. Finally, he has a previously paid signing bonus worth $2.1 million against the 2024 salary cap. Saving from Higbee's contract is a simple restructure, converting the salary, roster bonus, and other bonuses into a signing bonus of just over $9.6 million, and spreading that amount over the remaining life of the contract. The savings from that will create an additional 2024 salary cap space of $5.6 million

Summing it all up

Okay, so where does that leave us? Let's recap:

The LA Rams have the wherewithal to create over $110 million of salary cap space for the 2024 NFL Free Agency market, which is clearly enough to extend IOL Kevin Dotson, LT Alaric Jackson, DB Jordan Fuller, DB Ahkello Witherspoon, plus go big name hunting in the free agency market.

But at what cost? Well, if the Rams pull the trigger on all six options, over $65 million of 2024 salary cap space shifts from 2024 into 2025 and beyond, with no new players. That is why the Rams front office is so reluctant to do so.

We all know how painful 2023 was as the team cut or traded players for next to nothing. The money is there if the team needs to find it. But, and I cannot stress this enough, they need to be certain that they will get the best bang for the buck.

Top NFL stars, unfortunately, seldom fall into that category. And as always, thanks for reading.