With one very simple move, the Los Angeles Rams have cleared more than $10 million in cap space. According to Field Yates of ESPN, they converted $13.92 million of Cooper Kupp’s salary into a signing bonus, which freed up $10.44 million against the cap this year.
It’s a standard restructure, which lowers Kupp’s cap hit in 2023 but pushes money out to future years by prorating the signing bonus over the rest of his contract – which runs through the 2026 season.
The Rams had just $1.3 million in cap space before this move, among the lowest in the NFL, and they still haven’t signed their full draft class yet. Not that they were planning to move on from Kupp anytime soon, but this restructure will make it more difficult to trade or cut him in the future because his cap hits will increase.
Given the holes still on their roster, they could potentially use this newfound cap space to sign a veteran pass rusher or cornerback in free agency. Or, they may have just needed it to get their rookies under contract and create space for necessary roster moves throughout the season.
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
