Rams only team with no 2014 cap carryover

This topic has 3 replies, 2 voices, and was last updated 9 years, 9 months ago by zn.

Viewing 4 posts - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

Author

Posts
February 16, 2015 at 2:57 pm #18522

zn
Moderator

Rams only team with no 2014 cap carryover

By Nick Wagoner | ESPN.com

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/

EARTH CITY, Mo. — As it stands, the 2015 NFL salary cap is projected to come in at $140 million, though that figure is subject to change. For now, the St. Louis Rams don’t appear to have much wiggle room underneath that number.

According to the figures from ESPN Stats & Information, the Rams have $71,950 in salary cap space. That number can and will change as the Rams reduce or release the contracts of players like tackle Jake Long, defensive tackle Kendall Langford, running back Isaiah Pead, center Scott Wells and quarterback Sam Bradford.

But there’s another interesting number that is associated only with the Rams heading toward the business portion of the offseason: $0. The Rams are the only team in the league with $0 in projected carryover from 2014.

Cap carry over is a relatively new concept within the scope of the NFL salary cap. It was added in the 2011 collective bargaining agreement to allow teams to take unused cap space from the previous season into the next year’s cap.

For example, if a team had a $5 million cap carryover from last season, it would actually be able to spend up to $145 million this year. In the Rams’ case, though, there’s not much of a math requirement. They currently have that $71,950 in space and they have zero carry over so their projected current cap space is $71,950.

For comparisons’ sake, the Jacksonville Jaguars had $39,980,005 in initial cap space for this year but carried over $21,768,205. That combination gives Jacksonville the most projected cap space in the league at $61,748,210.

The entire chart of initial cap space, carry over amounts and projected total space is at the bottom of Kevin Seifert’s piece on the top 20 possible free agents.

February 16, 2015 at 3:33 pm #18523

zn
Moderator

zn wrote:

The entire chart of initial cap space, carry over amounts and projected total space is at the bottom of Kevin Seifert’s piece on the top 20 possible free agents.

Which is here:

—–

NFL Salary Cap Space

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/page/hotread150212/early-look-top-free-agents-2015

Below are estimates for each team’s cap space, based on ESPN Stats & Information figures and a projected $140 million team limit, as of earlier this week. Totals change with each roster move between now and March 10.

February 16, 2015 at 3:51 pm #18524

Herzog
Participant

Time to give those young guys a chance!

February 16, 2015 at 4:32 pm #18528

zn
Moderator

Herzog wrote:

Time to give those young guys a chance!

Agreed.

And now for some random mixed thoughts.

Some examples.

Right now the Rams have 141+ M counting against a cap that is supposed to be 140 M. But that’s before they make any moves–and they have a lot of moves they can make. By a lot of moves, I mean way beyond the obvious. Also, that’s before counting the 3 M in credit they get from Finnegan’s contract in 2015.

Right now they have just under 90 M counting against the 2016 cap, which is supposed to be around 150 M. And that’s before they make the moves I just mentioned (some 2015 moves they can make will impact the 2016 cap). Now why is 2016 cap space significant in 2015? Because the way the Rams write deals, they frontload–but they put a large portion of the frontloaded deal into the 2nd year, not the 1st year. That means they can use 2016 space to accomplish things in 2015.

And, the Rams have maxed out on expensive FAs anyway, which is fine. If you look at repeat playoff teams, they do not go on big FA spending sprees. They keep it within bounds. In terms of FAs, Rams really only need one–an interior lineman (center or guard). Anything else would be gravy.

One final point. Wagoner says they had no carry over. Okay. But that doesn’t mean much, since the Rams frontload so heavily. That is, they use the present year to keep space free in future years. The fact that they can adjust the cap on a moment’s notice with a few painless moves means that the frontloading is flexible, too.

So the Rams will always LOOK like they are up against the cap, but then if you look closer, they’re actually not.
Author

Posts