Two Rams defenders — linebacker Mark Barron and edge rusher Matt Longacre accepted pay cuts prior to the beginning of the regular season, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (Twitter link). In total, the dual moves saved Los Angeles more than $2MM on its salary cap.
Barron, 28, didn’t sacrifice all that much money, as he took a pay reduction of just $500,001, per Pelissero. His base salary should now come in around $6.5MM, and that total is now fully guaranteed (just $2MM had previously been guaranteed). Barron, who underwent shoulder surgery during the offseason, didn’t play in Week 1 while recovering from an ankle issue. The safety-turned-linebacker is signed through the 2020 campaign, but doesn’t have any guaranteed money left on his deal after this current year.
It’s unclear how much Longacre gave up financially, but he had been scheduled to earn a base salary of $1.907MM after signing an original round restricted free agent tender in April. In 2017, Longacre played more defensive snaps than he had in the previous two seasons combined, and came through with 5.5 sacks and 15.5 pressures.
Prior to reworking Barron and Longacre’s contracts, the Rams were dead last with just $535K in available funds, per Over the Cap. They’ll still be in the bottom-three even after picking up an extra $2MM, but the club now has a bit more financial breathing room.