As one of the most active teams in the NFL when it comes to trades, the Los Angeles Rams maintained their title of exactly that on Tuesday when they struck two deals with teams in the AFC North. First, they acquired center Austin Corbett from the Cleveland Browns for a 2021 draft pick.
Then, they quickly made another trade with the Ravens, sending Marcus Peters to Baltimore for linebacker Kenny Young and a fifth-round pick in 2020. It wasn’t a complete surprise to see the Rams acquire offensive line help, but the trade involving Peters was out of left field.
There are multiple trains of thought when it comes to both of these trades, but the salary cap implications are worth noting. By trading Peters at this point in the season, the Rams free up $5.87 million in cap space, according to Over The Cap.
For a team that was thin on spending money, that’s a significant chunk of change. It also opens the door for additional moves that could be made, including a trade for a cornerback to fortify the secondary with Peters gone and Aqib Talib injured.
Corbett and Young will count about $900,000 against the cap this season, which is very little. So in turn, the Rams saved nearly $5 million in cap space between both of these trades.
Peters was in the last year of his contract, so he wasn’t set to take up any cap space in 2020. That’s not the case for Corbett and Young, though, who were both drafted in 2018 and have two years left on their contracts after this season.
Corbett’s cap hits the next two years are $2.05 million and $2.4 million. Young’s are $819,975 and $909,975 in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
