2016 Los Angeles Rams: Post-Free Agency Salary Cap Update 4/11

The Los Angeles Rams headed into the offseason with plenty of work to do and many difficult personnel/financial decisions to make. As the last 5 weeks have unfolded, it’s become evident the teams’ primary goal was to re-sign as many of their own pending Free Agents as possible and avoid making any big splashes in the Free Agency market. For the most part, the Rams accomplished what they set out to do.
Offseason Transactions To-Date

On February 19, the Rams released Chris Long, James Laurinaitis and Jared Cook, gaining close to $24 million in salary cap space in the process. The additional $24 million left the Rams with close to $50.5 million in salary cap space (with all additional costs for 2016 taken into consideration).

In the weeks leading up to the opening of the new league year (and Free Agency) on March 9, the Rams were in the unenviable position of having 28 players eligible for Free Agency (12 UFA’s, 6 RFA’s and 10 ERFA’s). Before March 9, the Rams reduced that number to 15 by tendering all 10 of their ERFA’s, tendering RFA’s Benny Cunningham and Case Keenum and placing the Franchise Tag on Trumaine Johnson.

Once Free Agency opened, the Rams managed to re-sign 8 of their remaining Free Agents (Tim Barnes, William Hayes, Eugene Sims, Brian Folkerts, Brian Quick, Cody Davis, Mark Barron and Cory Harkey).

The Rams wisely chose not to overpay for the services of Rodney McLeod and Janoris Jenkins, both of whom were signed to bloated contracts by Philadelphia and the NY Giants, respectively. In addition, Daren Bates and Nick Fairley both found new homes in Oakland and New Orleans. The Rams have 3 remaining Free Agents (Chase Reynolds, Greg Zuerlein and Wes Welker). It’s still possible the Rams will re-sign both Zuerlein and Reynolds at a later date, with minimal impact on the salary cap.

The Rams will incur additional salary cap costs throughout the remainder of the year. To get a clear picture of the Rams’ “usable” salary cap space, these additional costs must be subtracted from the current $12.9 million in available salary cap space.

The Rams clearly approached this offseason and Free Agency in a cautious manner and with future salary cap considerations in mind. They had a plan and a budget and stuck to both. The plan involved three key elements: re-signing as many of their own Free Agents as possible, paying up front (not back loading contracts) and not overspending in a manner that could affect their 2017 salary cap.

With all costs taken into consideration in my estimate, the Rams currently have close to $53 million in salary cap space for 2017 (based on the league-wide salary cap rising to $170 million). If Nick Foles ($12.25M cap savings), Rodger Saffold ($4.22M), Coty Sensabaugh ($4M) and Lance Kendricks ($4.25M) don’t perform up to expectations in 2016, all four could become salary cap casualties in 2017, with the Rams gaining an additional $24.72 million in salary cap relief. The Rams also appear to be in a position where they will be able to carry over up to $5 million in salary cap space from 2016 to 2017. The Rams could very well have close to $83 million in salary cap space entering the 2017 offseason.