Rams Salary Cap for Spending

I just read an article that said the Rams didn't have a lot of cap room for Free Agents due to last year's contracts.

The Rams only have about 20 million to spend for next year's cap.

With Mikell probably getting 20% of that for next season and we have to sign Robert Quinn still, I think we are strapped for cash.

We didn't make too many cuts (big money cuts), and that probably allows us to only sign 2 more free agents (or 1 big name/ 1 small name).....

ESPN's Mike Sando, he confirmed that the Rams have approximately $12 million in cap space...but it is more like 18-20 mil (before Mikell signed)...

So, we really have space only for 2 guys.....remember the Rams want Clayton still and with Bradford being the last of the big, cash #1 picks, if we have Clayton we would have about 5 mil left for any one player....


we would have to back load contracts (long term) for guys like S.Rice or an OLB...it seems we can only pick 1 --- Quinn's contract is holding us up too.....


So, we are about done in free agency ....Clayton and 1 OLB will probably be it unless we decide to take a guy for a 5year deal or longer....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by richtree

I just read an article that said the Rams didn't have a lot of cap room for Free Agents due to last year's contracts.

The Rams only have about 20 million to spend for next year's cap.

With Mikell probably getting 20% of that for next season and we have to sign Robert Quinn still, I think we are strapped for cash.

We didn't make too many cuts (big money cuts), and that probably allows us to only sign 2 more free agents (or 1 big name/ 1 small name).....

ESPN's Mike Sando, he confirmed that the Rams have approximately $12 million in cap space...but it is more like 18-20 mil (before Mikell signed)...

So, we really have space only for 2 guys.....remember the Rams want Clayton still and with Bradford being the last of the big, cash #1 picks, if we have Clayton we would have about 5 mil left for any one player....


we would have to back load contracts (long term) for guys like S.Rice or an OLB...it seems we can only pick 1 --- Quinn's contract is holding us up too.....


So, we are about done in free agency ....Clayton and 1 OLB will probably be it unless we decide to take a guy for a 5year deal or longer....

---

I was wallowing in this the other day. That $12m for this season apparently is after a $39m "one-time" cap charge which wasn't explained. In another post I guessed as to what it was about. What interests me most about that $39m was that reason and that it was called a "one-time" charge, which lead me and some others to think that we start next season with that $39m available in cap space.

See if you can find that other post for more info, and again, I think this cap stuff needs quite a bit of journalistic investigation and writing to clarify the issue. <that is a suggestion for any journo's out there>.

Here's that piece from Mike Sando you mentioned Rich:

Quote:

---

Clayton: The St. Louis Rams have $39 million of one-time cap charges on Sam Bradford, Jason Smith and Chris Long, but still have about $12 million of cap room left.

My take: Cap numbers will fluctuate some as the NFL takes into account all factors affecting salary totals. The $12 million figure would be the lowest projected figure in the NFC West. Where there's a will, however, there is often a way. The Rams could find ways to clear more room if they really needed the room to make a move. The Rams do have a few needs, but most of their high-profile positions are filled. For most teams, salary-cap space has not been a legitimate reason for avoiding certain moves. When teams hold back, it's usually because they don't value players enough to invest significantly in them. I'm not expecting an all-out spending spree from the Rams.

---

That is exactly the article ...... thanks TBR.

And notice that Clayton goes right past whywhat that $39m "one-time" charge is for. A total journalistic whiff. I can only hope that $39m is space in next seasons cap.

Here is my guess on what it is from the other thread.

Re: $39m one-time cap charge?
I thought the bonuses were spread out throughout the contract terms not lumped into a specific year of the contract term. And this wouldn't explain the syncronized nature I think I see here.

Here's my guess. The new collective bargaining agreement has a rookie cap in it. These three players are all top 2 or higher picks with huge initial contracts that exceed what is in the new CBA and rookie cap perameters. And that because of that, to make things work properly in the new CBA salary cap calculations, the Rams have to take any salary, bonus included, that exceeds that new CBA rookie cap numbers and include them in their cap figures this season and future season cap numbers would be inline with rookie cap perameters going forward. It's also my guess that all teams had to have a calculation done on their previous players to determine they're potential "one-time" cap charge. Having had a top two pick in the previous drafts did the RAMs no favor.

That's the best I could come up with, but would really be interested in seeing what the real story is. Seems that sucking for those previous seasons has imposed a severe penalty on the RAMs beyond just sucking. A penalty that no foresight may have prepared them for.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by richtree

So, we are about done in free agency ....Clayton and 1 OLB will probably be it unless we decide to take a guy for a 5year deal or longer....

---

It's going to be interesting to say the least if the Rams don't come out of this free agency period with an upgrade in their depth at running back.

Jerome Harrison will be cheap enough to add depth. trade for Steve Slaton? but an established scat back we probably wont get. Although front-office magic still might land us Sproles.

Pretty disappointed in this year's free agency. Hopefully we have the cap room next year to get some impact players.

Plus you have to think OSI could still be there too.....maybe Spags knows something there...