Rams contract restructures + FA/draft targets

[Allen2McVay]

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Lets assume we restructure a few contracts and have between $21M-$38M in cash to spend. Who do we resign that's still on the roster? Which FAs from around the league do we target?

I don’t see the Rams having that much $ to spend. Would feel better if the source provided some analysis. The breakdown of the key contracts are available.

Donald, Ramsey, Woods and Kupp have an $81M cap hit for 2021. Of that total, about $64M is designated as Salary. By reclassifying a large portion of the Salary to a Bonus designation, that amount can be spread out for cap purposes.

That could result in cap savings in the range of $30-$40M.

Unfortunately, the Rams are about $35M over the projected cap at the moment. The above savings get the Rams even with the projected cap. It does not give them much money to spend.

After Donald, Ramsey, Woods and Kupp, the Rams are limited on restructuring options. They can extend Stafford for some relief, and release or try to trade a few veterans like Whitworth, Brockers and Havenstein but that opens holes.

The Rams can get down to the 2021 cap but they will not have much $ to spend. The wild card could be the possibility that the 2021 cap when announced, is higher than currently projected.

I hope I am wrong here but the math seems pretty simple.

 

[Mackeyser]

Welp, after spending too much time on Spotrac... I dunno how we keep either.

And once Snead figures out the cap to get in compliance for league rules (when do teams have to adhere to the cap rules?), he could make a move, but it'd be tight. We may have to rely on guys who are already on the team stepping up.

That said, we're not in the worst shape...

I can't see New Orleans shedding $93.7M cap dollars by 3/17/21...

Per Spotrac.com...which actually shows them to be a WHOPPING $112,190,767 OVER the cap for 2021...

Even if they cut:

OLB Kwon Alexander
RT Ryan Ramczyk
CB Marshon Lattimore

And then did a base restructure of EVERYONE ELSE they can do it to (meaning everything, but league minimum + guaranteed monies) they're still $23,626,433 OVER the cap!!!

I honestly have no idea how they do it. Presuming Brees pays back his $22.65M cap hit of previously paid monies (can that happen? I dunno if the NFLPA allows players to pay sums back as teams would work that all the time), they'd still be almost $1M over.

And that's before tendering any RFA/ERFAs and before signing any draft picks...

So, if anyone is fretting over our cap issues, just know that in Nawlins... that FO has to be drinking the Maalox by the GALLON!!!

 

[Mackeyser]

I don’t see the Rams having that much $ to spend. Would feel better if the source provided some analysis. The breakdown of the key contracts are available.

Donald, Ramsey, Woods and Kupp have an $81M cap hit for 2021. Of that total, about $64M is designated as Salary. By reclassifying a large portion of the Salary to a Bonus designation, that amount can be spread out for cap purposes.

That could result in cap savings in the range of $30-$40M.

Unfortunately, the Rams are about $35M over the projected cap at the moment. The above savings get the Rams even with the projected cap. It does not give them much money to spend.

After Donald, Ramsey, Woods and Kupp, the Rams are limited on restructuring options. They can extend Stafford for some relief, and release or try to trade a few veterans like Whitworth, Brockers and Havenstein but that opens holes.

The Rams can get down to the 2021 cap but they will not have much $ to spend. The wild card could be the possibility that the 2021 cap when announced, is higher than currently projected.

I hope I am wrong here but the math seems pretty simple.

You're right.

I think they extend Stafford which should lower his cap hit a fair bit. He has a $10M roster bonus which should be easy enough to reconfigure, so if they extend him, they probably can get his cap hit this season under $10M

They could trade Brockers, but they're more likely to restructure Hav. They'll do something with Big Whit's contract, but we'll have to see what it is.

However it plays out, they could push to get as much as $15M in spending money. I dunno how the author came up with $38M unless he didn't figure in Stafford's salary.

Hopefully that will allow us to retain Darious Williams and pick up a stud IOL

 

[dieterbrock]

It's what Todd Gurley said when he got cut lol

I thought that sounded familiar..
Surprised somebody didnt reply with, "Yikes"

 

[Tano]

I also think that the CAP is not going down 20 Million.

I think the Players Org will ask the owners to make a one time adjustment to the CAP and some sort of compromise will be reached.

I have a feeling at most the CAP will go down 10 million.

Of course - this is just a feeling.

 

[dieterbrock]

I also think that the CAP is not going down 20 Million.

I think the Players Org will ask the owners to make a one time adjustment to the CAP and some sort of compromise will be reached.

I have a feeling at most the CAP will go down 10 million.

Of course - this is just a feeling.

Yeah, no doubt. There's a lot that's going to be cleared up post SB.
It is encouraging that the Rams will have ability to free up space although these restructured contracts arent the no brainer move as some assume.

 

[Tano]

Yeah, no doubt. There's a lot that's going to be cleared up post SB.
It is encouraging that the Rams will have ability to free up space although these restructured contracts arent the no brainer move as some assume.

I don't think they are no-brainer but definitely something that I hope will go down. We need 2 OL an inside linebacker and resign

Williams and Floyd. I like Johnson but he is going to sign for a shit load of money that I don't think should ever go to safeties unless they make 10 interceptions a year (okay maybe an exaggeration).

 

[Mackeyser]

Yeah, no doubt. There's a lot that's going to be cleared up post SB.
It is encouraging that the Rams will have ability to free up space although these restructured contracts arent the no brainer move as some assume.

I thought I read that the Rams typically write into their contracts that they can do base restructures without player approval.

Ultimately it's just a cap move that in some cases gets them more money sooner.

So as long as they're base restructures and they don't change the contracts beyond turning current salary into a bonus spread over the remaining length of the contract, it's just bookkeeping.

So yeah, not a no brainer, but definitely routine.

 

[Mackeyser]

I also think that the CAP is not going down 20 Million.

I think the Players Org will ask the owners to make a one time adjustment to the CAP and some sort of compromise will be reached.

I have a feeling at most the CAP will go down 10 million.

Of course - this is just a feeling.

I've thought that the NFLPA should propose a cap freeze instead. I know some owners prefer to take all the hit at once, but this isn't a stock or simply managing the P&L for a corporate tax return.

This could result in asset liquidation (losing players) that are permanently lost.

Losing valuable assets due to an arbitrary accounting rule is bad business.

By freezing the cap for 2 years (undoubtedly, the owners would lobby for 3), that gives teams time to recoup their losses from lack of venue revenue while not handicapping teams for not foreseeing COVID.

That's the business argument for freezing the cap, anyway.

 

[Ellard80]

We couldnt afford jjohnson even with more cap space... he is a good players but we have depth there.

I also feel like he is a FS playing SS - Rapp is more of a true SS... will come up and knock the shit out of you - but not great in coverage.

Fuller is more of the center field type - we are fine at saftey. The issue will be pass rush - if we cant keep floyd, we need someone who can come off the edge.

 

[Tano]

I don't think they are no-brainer but definitely something that I hope will go down. We need 2 OL an inside linebacker and resign

Williams and Floyd. I like Johnson but he is going to sign for a shit load of money that I don't think should ever go to safeties unless they make 10 interceptions a year (okay maybe an exaggeration).

Oh I have to add - isn't it awesome that we are only looking to upgrade 2 or 3 positions (maybe 4 with a speed receiver) and maybe depth and a blocking TE

Our team is stacked for the most part

 

[dieterbrock]

I don't think they are no-brainer but definitely something that I hope will go down. We need 2 OL an inside linebacker and resign

Williams and Floyd. I like Johnson but he is going to sign for a shit load of money that I don't think should ever go to safeties unless they make 10 interceptions a year (okay maybe an exaggeration).

Take Donald for instance. I can see where he'd be reluctant. First, the team hard balled the crap out of him, then they gave out contracts to guys early and after 2021, there's no more guaranteed money. So where we just know that he's not going anywhere, and that a restructure/extension can add years to his deal, there is the question of how much are they willing to pay him? (Again)
Woods guaranteed money is gone after this year, which makes him tradable if not restructured, and still cut-able if he does
I know its all rah rah right now, and maybe the players are behind the Goff trade. But there has to be some doubt about trusting the FO seeing what happened to Gurley, Cooks and #16

 

[Mackeyser]

It'll be a tough off-season if the cap dips all the way to $180M and the fans won't like seeing guys who can help them win not be retained due to lowered cap restraints because the owners prefer to take the large loss all up front.

(the greedy assholes will still find a way to use any losses to fully offset any profit to reduce tax liability... If they can take up to 10 years to realize the loss on a tax return (it's 10 years, right?), they should be able to just freeze the cap for 2 years so that the actual business doesn't suffer due to an arbitrary accounting choice.

 

[blackbart]

It must be a weird feeling... from a pure team standpoint, they want to stay together. Rams want JJ, he wants to stay here.

But financially, they must part ways.

For JJ, it probably lacks the “looking forward to fresh start” feel.

Well he could always work a deal to stay with the team and not cost a crazy amount against the cap.

I understand it’s their job and all but how much is enough?

 

[Mackeyser]

Take Donald for instance. I can see where he'd be reluctant. First, the team hard balled the crap out of him, then they gave out contracts to guys early and after 2021, there's no more guaranteed money. So where we just know that he's not going anywhere, and that a restructure/extension can add years to his deal, there is the question of how much are they willing to pay him? (Again)
Woods guaranteed money is gone after this year, which makes him tradable if not restructured, and still cut-able if he does
I know its all rah rah right now, and maybe the players are behind the Goff trade. But there has to be some doubt about trusting the FO seeing what happened to Gurley, Cooks and #16

Base restructures simply take the current year's salary and turn it into a bonus so that an amount up to the difference between the salary and the minimum salary for the vested years can be spread over the remaining years of the contract.

All that would mean is that at the time of the guarantee... likely a roster bonus for the 1st game of the year... the Rams would give AD a check for his entire year's salary minus 15/16ths (or 16/17ths if they do add the 17th game) of the league minimum for his vested years. The rest would be league minimum game checks.

All it amounts to is "hey, we're gonna pay most of your season up front so that we can afford to keep more guys"

It's standard and I think the Rams have a standard clause which allows them to do it without player approval. And since it doesn't change the amount or when it's paid, it shouldn't incur any additional tax liabilities (but their tax attorneys would know for sure) and it just accounting.

Also, if a player doesn't want all that money in a lump, his agent or financial planner could always escrow the sum and pay him out weekly like always.

 

[fearsomefour]

Apparently they already told JJ3 that they wouldn't be competing for him a few days ago because he tweeted that "I got fired on my day off"

Gotta love being in a business when “being fired” will equate to a huge raise.
Anyway, the Rams have been drafting Safeties for a reason.

 

[Mackeyser]

Well he could always work a deal to stay with the team and not cost a crazy amount against the cap.

I understand it’s their job and all but how much is enough?

Considering he was drafted on his rookie deal, he signed a 4 year, $3.25M contract.

That's a lot of money, but it's not "set up for life" money. It's not like if Tom Brady asked for a bigger contract...

And JJ3 compares stat wise with Budda Baker and he just signed an extension at the beginning of the year for 4 years, $59M.

There is ZERO chance we can afford that... unfortunately.

 

[fearsomefour]

Well he could always work a deal to stay with the team and not cost a crazy amount against the cap.

I understand it’s their job and all but how much is enough?

We are all human being and would mostly make the same choice.
One place is offering you, say $8 M a year and the place you’ve been is offering you $5M a year.
You are considering these offers with the full knowledge that in either place, no matter how much you buy in and love the coaches, teammates, ownership, fans, city, stadium and uniform they will cut your ass in a hot minute of you are injured in a way that affects your performance, even a little bit.
Their window is small....loyalty would end up being a one way street.
Take the money.

 

[dieterbrock]

It's standard and I think the Rams have a standard clause which allows them to do it without player approval.

They certainly need the player's approval, and I know exactly how they work. I dont think you read my entire post

 

[fearsomefour]

Considering he was drafted on his rookie deal, he signed a 4 year, $3.25M contract.

That's a lot of money, but it's not "set up for life" money. It's not like if Tom Brady asked for a bigger contract...

And JJ3 compares stat wise with Budda Baker and he just signed an extension at the beginning of the year for 4 years, $59M.

There is ZERO chance we can afford that... unfortunately.

It bums me out anytime a core player leaves but it’s not personal, just business.