Rams have 4th-most dead cap money for 2021

Had the Rams waited to trade Jared Goff until after June 1, it’s possible that they could have saved considerable money for the 2021 salary cap. Instead, the Rams are paying a $24.7 million dead cap hit for Goff, which on its own is larger than the entire 2021 dead cap hit for all but three teams in the NFL.

The only teams paying more in dead cap will be the Philadelphia Eagles, Detroit Lions, and Carolina Panthers, all of whom traded a starting quarterback this year.

Of course, the Lions and Rams swapped quarterbacks, which is why LA isn’t so worried about spreading Goff’s cap hit around. They now have Matthew Stafford and his $20 million cap number in 2021 and $23 million in 2022 are both exceptionally reasonable for a quarterback of his caliber. And besides, the Rams are not in financial straits right now, while they also get to boast one of the best rosters in the entire NFL.

That’s what I would want the focus for fans to be on, if I was Les Snead: Yes, the Rams have to pay $39.2 million in dead cap hits in 2021.

And also yes, the Rams are a legitimate threat to win the next three Super Bowls. Maybe not all of them in a row, but LA is much more of a contender today than they were in mid-January.

The other dead cap hits for 2021:

• $8.4 million to Todd Gurley
• $3.33 million to Leonard Floyd (previous contract void years)
• $2.66 million to Michael Brockers

The Eagles traded Carson Wentz to the Colts, the team with the least amount of dead cap for 2021, and they incurred a $33.8 million dead cap hit for that move. They also have $5.8 million to DeSean Jackson, a current member of the LA Rams.

The Panthers will be allocating $17 million of their cap to watch Teddy Bridgewater play (maybe?) for the Broncos.

The Rams are in greater financial peril for 2022, actually, but the probable retirement of Andrew Whitworth would clear up some things.