As if the Robert Woods trade didn’t sting enough for Rams fans, this news won’t make it any better. It was initially believed that they would save about $7.1 million in cap space by trading Woods, which was a big reason for the deal.
But it turns out that number was incorrect. Because the deal wasn’t official until this week, the Rams were on the hook for Woods’ $3.5 million roster bonus, which was due on Sunday. According to multiple Titans reporters, the Rams did indeed pick up that bonus, costing them an additional $3.5 million and saving Tennessee that same amount.
I can confirm that the Rams are picking up Robert Woods’ 2022 roster bonus, as @PaulKuharskyNFL first reported. So that’s a win for Titans in the trade, saving $3.5M in cap space. Tennessee on the hook for his $10M base salary for this season, pending a possible reworked deal
— Ben Arthur (@benyarthur) March 22, 2022
Over the Cap updated the Rams’ cap situation and he’ll count $11.9 million in dead money this year. His cap hit was originally going to be $15.7 million if he remained on the roster, which means the Rams only saved $3.8 million in cap space by trading him to Tennessee.
Had they traded him before his roster bonus was due and forced the Titans to pay it, they would’ve saved an additional $3.5 million, so about $7.3 million total. The Rams aren’t oblivious and they knew about the bonus when they traded Woods, it was likely just part of the deal that they would agree to pay it rather than leaving the tab with Tennessee.