:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/37972768/20140118_mjr_su5_362.0.jpg)
The St. Louis Rams restructured Chris Long's contract this week. It was a simple move converting base salary into bonus money in order to free up cap space, the second time they've done that since signing Long to a four-year, $60 million contract extension in 2012.
Rams converted $3M of Chris Long’s base salary into a signing bonus, lowered cap number by $2M.
— Brian McIntyre (@brian_mcintyre) September 4, 2014
Long wasn't the only one getting a contract adjustment from the Rams. Wide receiver Austin Pettis did too, but his included a pay cut.
Chris Long, Austin Pettis restructured contracts to help Rams gain cap space. Pettis rec’d $250k signing bonus to take $481k pay cut.
— Brian McIntyre (@brian_mcintyre) September 4, 2014
Those twin moves give the Rams some much needed relief under the salary cap. According to the latest numbers from the NFLPA, the Rams were $4,073,033 under the cap as of 10:42 a.m. ET on Thursday. Teams need some cap room during the season in case they need to make a move to cover for injuries, etc.
Neither move is a particular surprise. Long had a cap number of $12.9 million this year. Pettis' cap hit was $1.5 million before his restructure.
Long's contract was restructured in April 2013, converting $6 million of his base salary into roster bonus.