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The Los Angeles Rams have reportedly restructured the contract of veteran outside linebacker Leonard Floyd, which creates $12M in cap space per Field Yates of ESPN.
More Saints money: they’ve created $7.015M by reworking DT David Onyemata and OT James Hurst’s contracts.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 16, 2022
More Rams money: they’ve created $12M in cap by reworking Edge Leonard Floyd’s contract (and more via Andrew Whitworth).
Andrew Whitworth announcing his retirement yesterday also saves the Rams an additional $16M in cap space, so the team has opened up $28M in just the last 24 hours.
Prior to Whitworth hanging it up the Rams were $24.6M over the NFL salary cap - so it’s probably safe to assume they are now back in the black. The start of the new league year is officially today, March 16th, at 1:00pm PT, and the Rams are required to be under the salary cap by this deadline.
LA could open up even more cap space by extending players such as quarterback Matthew Stafford and Aaron Donald. Based on previous offseason reporting, these extensions are on more of a “when” than “if” basis. The Rams could save as much as $10.5M by extending Donald and giving Stafford a new contract could create as much as $17.5M in room for 2022.
One important note: LA has only announced that they’ve agreed to terms with the players they were able to recently re-sign - Joseph Noteboom, Brian Allen, and Coleman Shelton. These individuals and the team have likely not put pen to paper, which means these deals probably do not count against the salary cap quite yet. While Los Angeles had to tinker a bit to get under the cap, they should still have more than enough room to build a competitive roster in 2022.
Could the Rams be loading up on cap space in order to make a splash free agent signing? LA has maintained that re-signing edge rusher Von Miller is a priority for them after acquiring him via trade mid-season in 2021, but his market has been more competitive than originally expected.
Perhaps Los Angeles is hoping to add a number two corner opposite Jalen Ramsey since Darious Williams is expected to sign elsewhere.
Maybe the Rams are hoping to bring in veteran inside linebacker Bobby Wagner, who when paired with second-year linebacker Ernest Jones could create a formidable duo in the heart of the LA defense.
Time till tell if the Rams will continue to open up cap space in the hopes of acquiring marquee talent. LA is hoping to build a competitive roster with the hopes of “running it back” in 2022, and the path to defend their world champion status starts this week.
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