Only one NFL team has less cap space than the Rams right now

[theramswire.usatoday.com]

Cameron DaSilva

The start of the new league year is rapidly approaching with less than two weeks until the NFL calendar turns over. It begins on March 17, which is both when free agency opens and teams must be under the salary cap.

The NFL still hasn’t set the salary cap for 2021 yet, but it will be no lower than $180 million – which would still be an $18.2 million decrease from last year. With the assumption that the cap will decrease regardless, the Rams will have to clear a lot of space on their books.

According to Over The Cap, the Rams are currently $35.136 million over a projected salary cap of $180.5 million. They’re one of nine teams that is over the cap right now and have the second-worst situation in the league.

Only the Saints are over the cap by more than the Rams, sitting $48.882 million over the limit after making a number of roster moves to free up some space. The Eagles are the only other team besides the Rams and Saints that is more than $23 million over the cap.

This latest update from Over The Cap includes Matthew Stafford’s arrival and Jared Goff’s departure, too. Stafford will have a cap hit of $20 million, while Goff will count $22.2 million in dead money.

Dead money is actually the primary reason Los Angeles sits in the red. The Rams have the second-most dead money on the books, carrying $34.125 million in charges from Goff, Todd Gurley and Leonard Floyd, whose contract had a voided year in 2021 to save space last year. The Eagles have $40 million in dead-cap charges this year, most in the NFL.

Restructures will quickly get the Rams on the right side of the salary cap. By restructuring the deals of Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey and Stafford, the Rams can clear about $40 million in cap space – though by doing this, they will push money out into later years, thus making it harder to move on from those players.

Cutting Kenny Young would save another $2.2 million, with a post-June 1 release of A’Shawn Robinson possible clearing $3.75 million, too. So there are clear avenues to creating some cap space before March 17, thus allowing the Rams to sign either some of their own free agents or outside players to bolster the roster.