Joe Noteboom restructure signals little changes coming to the offensive line

The Los Angeles Rams restructured their first contract on Tuesday by reworking Joseph Noteboom’s deal to create $9M in salary cap. The move officially puts the Rams under the cap before the start of the new league year.

While creating cap space is a good thing, it also ties the Rams to Noteboom for the remainder of his contract. By cutting or trading Noteboom pre-June 1 in 2024, the Rams would take a $15M cap-hit while saving only $5M.

Following the 2023 season, the Rams would have had a potential out in his deal. However, following the restructure, Noteboom will earn a base salary of $1.5M and a restructure bonus of $12,000,000, while carrying a cap hit of $6.5M and a dead cap value of $21.5M according to Spotrac.

With the restructure, the Rams have committed to an oft-injured offensive lineman who will be coming off of a torn Achilles that he suffered last season. While there has been some talk of moving Noteboom inside to guard, it’s worth noting that tackle is his more natural and better position.

In eight career games at guard, Noteboom has just two games with a pass-blocking grade over 60 according to Pro Football Focus. In 17 career games at tackle, he has 15 such games. He is very clearly a better tackle than guard.

The offensive line got hit catastrophically by injuries last season and Noteboom was a primary example of that. But Sean McVay has shown a lot of loyalty to Noteboom over the past five years and this gives the former third round pick a sixth opportunity to start and finish a season as a starting offensive lineman on the Rams.

Potentially also a seventh.