The Los Angeles Rams have a cash-to-cap ratio of 0.8612 in 2024 according to OvertheCap.com, which is 31st in the entire NFL ahead of only the Dallas Cowboys at 0.824. Any time the Rams rank that low or that high in a category, it should pique our interest, but especially when the only team spending less cash than you is the Cowboys. So what does this all mean?
First of all, the Rams have $238 million in cash spending for the 2024 season, which is less than all but five other teams in the NFL: The Broncos, Chargers, Steelers, Cowboys, and Packers.
As Rams fans already know if they read this website daily, the franchise is navigating the post-Super Bowl winning world of trying to reward their elite players while not sacrificing quality on the rest of the roster. This means that the team is still paying $35 million more in cap space to Aaron Donald even after he retires, with big money owed to Cooper Kupp and Matthew Stafford as well. This despite the fact that Stafford wants the team to re-do his deal again before the 2024 season.
Trying to satisfy their future Hall of Famers (or close-to-HOFers) while fielding a full roster is challenging, so the Rams haven’t been spending much money in the past two offseasons relative to their previous offseasons. The Rams were 32nd in spending in 2023, but were able to pay a little more in 2024 by re-signing Kevin Dotson and adding names such as Jonah Jackson, Jimmy Garoppolo, Tre’Davious White, Colby Parkinson, and Kamren Curl.
But the Rams couldn’t spend that much and a significant percentage of what they owe against the cap is not necessarily going to players on the team, including the $25 million in cap space for Aaron Donald. The Rams are spending $238 million in cash, a lot less than the $341 million spent by the Browns and the $340 million spent by the Eagles.
Is a low cash-to-cap ratio a bad thing?
The only thing in sports that is “a bad thing” is losing. Everything else is just watercooler talk. The Broncos have a cash-to-cap ratio of 1.25, third-highest in the NFL, and they’re terrible. The Cowboys, Rams, Steelers, Ravens, and Packers all have a cash-to-cap ratio under 1.00 and any of those teams could compete for the Super Bowl this season.
The Substack newsletter Cap and Trade offers a more detailed explanation (this is before the 2023 season, so the numbers are a little different than todays):
Yes it is true, the NFL does set a hard cap on the salary cap spending. This hard cap does not extend to cash spending. If you have been reading/watching my work you’ll know that I describe the salary cap as an accounting function of the cash spent by an NFL organization; how the teams allocate their cash spending across the salary cap.
Across the thirty two NFL organizations, the average team cash spending is projected at $243,584,025 on a league salary cap of $224,800,000.
Average League Wide Cash To Cap Ratio: 1.08. This ratio represents a Cash Over Cap spending.
Total cash spending across the league is $7,794,688,800!
The Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) has two specific requirements in terms of cash spending for the NFL teams:
Teams, as a whole, must spend 95% of the league salary cap in cash each year. As we can see above with the Cash To Cap Ratio, that is easily achieved.
Individual teams must spend 90% of the league salary cap in cash over a three year period. 2023 is the third year in the spending window.
As you can see, 2023’s average cash to cap ratio was 1.08, a number significantly higher than L.A.’s right now.
From a chart in that newsletter, the Rams allocated most of their money to the offensive and defensive lines, followed by Matthew Stafford’s cash, then receivers. The Rams spent the least in the NFL on special teams, a fact that holds true today. But does spending more cash equate to more winning? Not according to the Cap expert:
If a team spends more cash, will the team win more games? Based on cash spending alone, the answer is No. There is no correlation to the amount of teams wins compared against cash spending.
Take a look at the teams below over the same 2011 – 2022 time period. In most situations a stable quarterback + stable coaching staff garnered the most wins.
So the Rams aren’t spending a lot of cash relative to their cap and not relative to the rest of the NFL, but they were 10-7 last season and look improved next season—both statements of which sound better if you ignore the Aaron Donald effect and his retirement. Donald made a lot of cash, cost a lot on the cap, and played the best football in the NFL.
The Rams don’t have AD now, but they should have more cash to spend in 2025. Whether that’s a good thing or just a thing, we’ll find out later.