Rams Rumors: Why fans should be accepting of a Todd Gurley trade
By Jason Reed
1. His contract is the only one that is movable
The Los Angeles Rams are in a salary cap bind and are likely looking to free up space not just to operate this offseason, but in future offseasons as well. The cap is going up next year, which would make things easier, but the Rams still might be better off freeing up one of their big contracts.
This is especially true if the team is going to extend Jalen Ramsey after this season. While some fans might rather have Gurley than Ramsey, the Rams traded two first-round picks for Ramsey and would be foolish to let him walk after a year and a half and not sign an extension.
Out of all the Rams’ big contracts, which is Gurley, Jared Goff, Aaron Donald and Brandin Cooks, Gurley is by far the most movable. Donald is completely off the table, as if Goff, and the dead money with Cooks just would not make sense.
The dead cap for moving Gurley would be $12.6 million with a salary cap hit this season of $17.25 million. This essentially means that as long as the Rams would take in less than $4.25 million in salary then the team would save money for this year and much more in future years instead of paying Gurley’s contract.
Cooks, on the other hand, has a dead cap hit of $21.8 million with a cap hit of $16.8 million. This means that no matter what the team gets in return, they will be paying $5 million more to not have Cooks on the roster.
At that point, the team might as well keep Cooks, who have proven that he is an elite receiver when healthy. Speaking of health…