The NFL salary cap is designed to maintain a competitive balance in the league, limiting what teams can spend on player salaries throughout their roster. But there are some creative ways in which teams can manipulate and navigate the salary cap, and it appears that the Los Angeles Rams are doing just that this week.
As NFL insider Field Yates of ESPN reports, the Los Angeles Rams are restructuring the contract of veteran wide receiver Cooper Kupp in a way that allows the team to free up more than $10 million in cap space this offseason.
“The Rams have converted $13.92M of WR Cooper Kupp’s base salary into a signing bonus, creating $10.44M in 2023 cap space, per source,” Yates said in a tweet.
The Rams have converted $13.92M of WR Cooper Kupp’s base salary into a signing bonus, creating $10.44M in 2023 cap space, per source.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) June 14, 2023
The timing of this move is interesting considering the Rams have just begun mandatory minicamp. At the same time, the Rams have one of the weakest depth charts in the league and likely need all the help they can get.
This move will obviously allow the Rams to sign more free agents if they desire, as they continue to try to bolster a relatively weak roster ahead of the 2023 season. And the NFL world had plenty to say about it on Twitter.
This isn’t for no reason. They are about to do something and Cooper Kupp approves of it. 👀 https://t.co/QZqnj9ptqQ
— RAMS REPORT🗯 (@RamsNFLReport) June 14, 2023
Likely means Rams draft class all to be signed shortly https://t.co/cAlxuqgi2U
— Jason_OTC (@Jason_OTC) June 14, 2023
Rams have like 10 unsigned draft picks still. I imagine a chunk of that cap space will be used just to sign their draft picks. Cap isnt real tho.. https://t.co/Wlr3qk8Pk8
— Clevta (@Clevta) June 14, 2023
Dalvin? Is that you? https://t.co/CHXD5ZOp0D
— lindsey ok (@lindseyyok) June 14, 2023
A lot of Ponzi schemes in the NFL these days https://t.co/phq1Fa8sEX
— Jeff Nowak (@Jeff_Nowak) June 14, 2023
— Hayden Winks (@HaydenWinks) June 14, 2023
#Rams making moves to have some breathing room in their cap space. Ram previous had just shy of $2M at their disposal. https://t.co/t0xynrMMhT
— Zac (@ZacMaier) June 14, 2023
Oh wow. This is absolutely massive and means the Rams could be in-play for a legitimate FA signing for this season. They now have close to $12MM in cap space for the 2023 season. https://t.co/89I0M6Zv79
— Rams Brothers (@RamsBrothers) June 14, 2023
Because
Cap space is a myth https://t.co/LZorKmQHwV
— LeatherBrainz (@leatherbrainz) June 14, 2023
In making this move, it’s likely that the Rams already have someone in mind they’d like to target in free agency. At the same time, the Rams have likely given themselves some breathing room from a cap space standpoint, so they can afford to sign their draft picks to rookie contracts.
[Field Yates on Twitter]
