With the free agency period starting in less than a month, NFL teams are starting to trim their rosters in search of salary cap space. There will be plenty of recognizable names let go this offseason, and the Los Angeles Rams made some news on Friday by cutting linebacker James Laurinaitis, defensive end Chris Long and tight end Jared Cook in one fell swoop.
NFL Network’s Albert Breer reported the financial implications of cutting the three veterans.
By cutting Chris Long, James Laurinaitis and Jared Cook, the Rams save $24.375 million on their 2016 cap. They’ll carry ~ $4.7M in dead $$.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) February 19, 2016
Cutting Long, who was set to count $14.25 million against the salary cap, was not surprising considering his age (31 in March) and that injuries limited him to 18 games (four sacks) over the last two seasons. Cook had vastly underachieved (39 catches for 481 yards, zero touchdown in 2015) since signing a five-year, $35.1 million deal with the Rams, so the team letting him go is not a shock either considering his full cap hit of $8.3 million for 2016.
Laurinaitis had been a mainstay for the Rams’ defense since being drafted in the second round (35th overall) in 2009, starting every game over his seven seasons and posting over 100 total tackles each season. However, Pro Football Focus was low on Laurinaitis last season, giving him the second-lowest grade among 60 qualified inside linebackers, so his release at age 29 with the resulting cap savings of close to $6 million is mostly justified.
The Rams may be getting ready to make a big free agent splash on the heels of Friday’s big-name cuts, and rumors of a run at Peyton Manning may ramp up again; that said, they are in far better position to keep pending free agent cornerbacks Trumaine Johnson and Janoris Jenkins, rather than having to choose one to re-sign.
